YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: 24

STATE: Virginia

COUNTY: Botetourt County

LOCATION DETAILS: Directions from Route 220.
Cross the James River on James St. Take right onto route 43 (Church Street) into Eagle Rock. You will pass the Eagle Rock Fire Station on your left. The next road to the left is Indian Lane. Go up Indian Lane to the top and the graveyard will be on right, and gravel road to the water tank is on the left side of Indian Lane.

NEAREST TOWN: Eagle Rock

NEAREST ROAD: Indian Lane

OBSERVED: My girlfriend and I were standing in a graveyard on a ridge top in Eagle Rock, VA. on Dec 24. It was rainy overcast day at approximately 4:50 pm. We were paying respect to my families graves when all of a sudden we heard a guttural call sound come from about, what I estimate, 100-150 yards away, if that far up the mountain from us. It was low and lasted several seconds. There were 3 distinct calls in the initial call. My girlfriend looked at me and said, "what was that?" I started to answer her with an "I am not sure" response when it called out again, 3 distinct calls. She said, "is that Bigfoot". I said "I am not sure, I grew up in the woods and Had never heard anything guttural like that before and I have heard a lot". I could see the fear in her eyes. I looked around and told her, I am not sure what it is but look at all the dogs, they know exactly what it is. There was a very large dog about 100 yards away over the ridge, that was frozen in place and staring in the direction of the sound. There were 2 other dogs, one on a chain on the porch of a house and a hunting dog on a chain about 75 yards away from us. Both of those dogs were frozen in place looking in the direction of the sound. Not one of the dogs barked. The hunting dog was the closest to the sound and it was still and quiet.

My girlfriend said what do we do now? Before those words were finished coming out of her mouth, I was trying to make the same sound back at whatever it was but I only did one guttural call instead of 3. She said oh my God Ernie. It was quiet for 5 -10 seconds after my call and then it responded with another single call like I had just done. I thought I heard something moving. When it responded, a rooster crowed right behind us and then the rooster and chickens with it ran off the hillside behind us. My girlfriend wanted to leave and go to my grandfathers and that sounded like a good Idea, however; I wanted to see if I could get close enough to see what it was. I convinced her we were safe in the car. So we got on the gravel road that went up to the water tank farther up the mountain, very close to where the sound had come from. On the way up we passed the dogs, They were standing still and looking up the mountain. When we got to the water tank I wanted to get out but my girlfriend asked me not to. I listened to her and frankly happy that I did, since I didn't have anything for protection. I had the windows down hoping to hear it again. There was silence and then the dogs started barking at us. That told me whatever had scared them must have been gone then, so we left. The hunting dog that was standing still when we went passed it on the way up the hill was spinning around and flipping he was going so fast to try to get at our car.
I didn't see anything but heard much.

ALSO NOTICED: I saw a man run up and grab the large dog that was over the ridge to the northeast of the graveyard and take him inside while the 3rd call was coming out. He had let the dog out when we were first pulling into the graveyard.
After he got the dog inside, he went out behind his home and chopped some wood.

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 witnesses
Walking in a graveyard and looking at the beautiful surrounding mountains.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 4:45 - 4:50 p.m. Rainy and overcast kind of day.

ENVIRONMENT: Graveyard on a ridge top. The sound came from the woods this was on the side of a tree covered mountain. The call came from the northwest above the water tank.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator D.K.:

After conversing with the witness, the following details can be added to his report:

After listening to several audio recordings, including those from BFRO Report 32981 out of Michigan, the witness felt the vocals he heard were most similar to the 1994 Ohio Moaning Howl, and that a "moan" more accurately describes what he heard than the term "call" that he used in his report.

He describes the vocals he heard as low in pitch, similar to the Ohio Howl. And he notes the howls repeated three times, which is similar to moan howls captured in Ohio, Michigan and Washington.

The low guttural howls sounded as if they originated 100-150 yards away, up the mountain from where he stood with his girlfriend. They were low in pitch and lasted several seconds each.

There were three distinct moan howls and before the witness could respond to his girlfriend the vocalizer called out again, repeating the three moan howls.

The witness grew up in the woods, is familiar with all the vocalizers typical of a Virginia forest, but had never heard anything similar to that low, guttural howl.

The witness saw the fear on his partner's face, and then took note of all the dogs in the area, which had gone silent and were staring intently toward the source of the howls.

The witness attempted to mimic the howl back at the vocalizer, just once, and after ten seconds of silence the vocalizer responded with a single moan howl.

The witness attempted to get closer to the vocalizer by driving his car up the hill, toward a water tank, near the origin of the howls. But once there his girlfriend convinced him not to get out. No more sounds were heard, and eventually the dogs relaxed, suggesting the vocalizer may have moved on.

About BFRO Investigator D.K.:

D.K. is a business executive with an MS in Systems Engineering. Formerly a linguistic analyst, he applies his knowledge to the collection and study of sasquatch vocals and communication patterns. BFRO expeditions attended: Tennessee 2010, Pennsylvania 2011, Ohio 2012, West Virginia 2012 & West Virginia 2013