YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 18

STATE: North Carolina

COUNTY: Alexander County

LOCATION DETAILS: I'm not familiar with the area all that well, but I do know it was on Friendship Church Road in Taylorsville, about 3 - 4 miles from Hwy 16 which I was heading to.

NEAREST TOWN: Taylorsville

NEAREST ROAD: Friendship Church Road / Hwy 16

OBSERVED: Leaving from Wilson Mills, NC ... I went to visit with my fiance and her family in Taylorsville / Hickory North Carolina on Oct 15 2012. On October 18th 2013 around 5:45 pm, I left to meet her and her nephews to take them to a Haunted Trail (For Halloween) after she got off of work. I left from their mobile home, and turned right onto Friendship Church Road in Taylorsville to get on 16. It is about 5 miles from their home on Friendship Church Road to Hwy 16. About 30 seconds after I pulled out of the driveway, onto the road, I looked into an open field on the left, they sell muscadine grapes (there is a dirt road that leads into the vineyard area) and about 30-40 yards off the road, and about 15 yards off of the dirt road/path there what at the time was a bear sitting on its butt, I saw it only for about 4 seconds while passing. I got down the road about 1/8 mile and turned around in a local church parking lot, when I got back, there was another vehicle turned into the dirt path, I slowed down and rolled my windows down, and the lady asked me "Do you see that thing?" which I didn't see it anymore, she then pointed, I looked, and it was walking on two legs into the tree line. We then spoke for a few more minutes, before I left. I told her I turned around to get another look. I knew then it was not a bear after I saw it walking on two legs like a human. I learned about the BFRO on Finding Bigfoot show on Animal Planet last night, and wanted to share my story.

ALSO NOTICED: I believe it was sitting, or squatting, picking grapes from the ground maybe, not sure.

OTHER WITNESSES: There was another lady that had stopped, mid 50's who watched it as well. Name unknown. The road is not that busy.

OTHER STORIES: No I have not, I'm not from the area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Early evening, I believe it had rained earlier that day, but was clear at the time. Very visible.
Am rain, high of 69
low of 48

ENVIRONMENT: Hills, Fields, Forests. Foothills in North Carolina.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Larry Sidwell:

I spoke with the witness by phone. His recollection of the events that afternoon were excellent. He had left his girlfriends parents home and was on Friendship Church Road in Alexander County, North Carolina heading East Towards Highway 16. He looked to the left in a field where they grow and sell Muscadine grapes and saw what he thought was a bear sitting in the field. He was intrigued by what he saw and he drove 1/8th mile and turned around in a church parking lot to go back and view what he saw. Upon arrival he saw another person had pulled into a dirt road that was at the site and was watching the animal in the field.

The other witness was driving a grey Toyota Camry, He pulled in and parked and asked the other witness if she saw the bear? She responded "that's no bear". She then pointed to it and he saw it again. It was walking on two legs and he briefly saw it as it went into the wood line. He was very convinced they witnessed a Sasquatch. The two conversed a few minutes and both were convinced they saw a Sasquatch, not a bear. It was very tall and walked very quickly. He did not see any facial features and only said it was very tall and broad. It was a very dark brown or black in color.

The area is mixed farmlands and forests. it is in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It has agriculture, chicken farms, and fruit orchards. Wildlife include whitetail deer, wild turkeys, and numerous small mammals and waterfowl. It is in the Catawba River basin which has had numerous Sasquatch reports. The animal was probably eating dried muscadine grapes in the field, and at first was unaware of the attention it was drawing.

About BFRO Investigator Larry Sidwell:

Larry became interested in Bigfoot at an early age after viewing the Patterson - Gimlin footage. Spent a lot of time in his youth hiking and exploring his families' farms in Clark County, Kentucky. Now resides in Bridgeport,WV.

BFRO public expeditions Larry has attended: 2012 West Virginia, 2013 Kentucky, 2013 West Virginia, 2013 Western North Carolina, 2014 North Carolina, 2014 ,Kentucky (Bluegrass Region), 2017 Maryland, 2019 Western Kentucky, 2020 Kentucky, 2021 Pennsylvania, 2021 Kentucky, 2022 South Carolina, 2022 Fall Tennessee, 2022 Kentucky.

Private expeditions Larry has attended: 2013 SEBFRO Nantahalla National Forest, 2014 Winter Uwharrie National Forest, 2014 Pisgah National Forest, 2014 Fall Uwharrie National Forest, 2015 Croatan National Forest, 2015 Forbes State Forest, Pennsylvania, 2015 Uwharrie National Forest, 2016 KBRO Kentucky, 2016 Monongahela National Forest, 2017 Monongahela National Forest, 2018 Southwest Virginia, 2019 KBRO Kentucky, 2021 KBRO Kentucky, 2021 ECE Spring Monongahela NationalForest, 2021 Fall ECE Monongahela, 2022 KBRO Spring Kentucky, 2022 KBRO Fall Expetion.

Conferences attended: 2013 Midnight Walkers Southeastern Bigfoot Conference, Dahlonega Georgia, and the 2014 and 2019 Ohio Bigfoot Conference, 2021 Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference, 2021 Cryptid Con Lexington, Ky, 2022 Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference, Gatlinburg, TN.

2023 BFRO West Virginia Expedition organizer
2024 BFRO West Virginia Spring Expedition organizer
2024 BFRO West Virginia Fall Expedition organizer