YEAR: 1996

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: September

STATE: Illinois

COUNTY: Sangamon County

LOCATION DETAILS: Along the Sangamon River between Illinois Rt 36 and Illinois Rt 54.

NEAREST TOWN: Riverton

NEAREST ROAD: Route 54

OBSERVED: Basically, it was the area of the Sangamon river bottoms between the old Rt 36 bridge and the Rt 54 bridge in Riverton.

It must have been at least 15 years ago. I was riding my minibike through the trails in the area. I lost control of the bike in a sand pit, amongst some deep shrubbery. As I looked up to get my bearings, I saw a large hominoid creature standing next to a tree about 25 yards ahead of me. I was slightly disoriented from the crash, but what I saw was a large male looking individual, more than 7 feet tall, very heavy built, with thin redish hair covering its body. It looked at me for just a moment and walked into the thick brush.

That was basically it. I remember it very clearly.

ALSO NOTICED: None

OTHER WITNESSES: One, myself.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 10 a.m.

ENVIRONMENT: Wooded river bottoms.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone and we walked through the area where he had the sighting. It was a number of years ago when he had the sighting but the heavily wooded area has not changed significantly.

In summary:

• The animal was over seven feet tall.
• The animals's weight was around 350 lbs.
• The animal was very heavily built.
• Hair color was reddish.

• The witness looked at the animal twice. The first time when he went down on his bike. The animal was just looking at him. The witness scrambled to get his bike upright and when he looked again the animal was walking back into the woods.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net