YEAR: 2016

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: March

DATE: Sunday (am) 20th

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Camden County

LOCATION DETAILS: We live in the woods with houses spattered down the street. Not very rural, there is a state forest in back yard, with a creek running thru about 400 yards back. On a side note...we have NO skunks or rabbits now for about 5 years. None.

NEAREST TOWN: Atco NJ

OBSERVED: Having heard knocks and whoops between now and last spring I know we heard a scream/howl/whoop at 2 in the morning last night. My adult daughter and myself have also seen a Bigfoot crossing the road going down the side of our home. The whoop/scream last night was in our backyard. Wharton State forest is at our property line.

OTHER WITNESSES: No

OTHER STORIES: Yes, described above. Usually always hear stuff after 1am. Our sighting was about 9pm.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2 am, cold, clear

ENVIRONMENT: Pine barrens in South Jersey, but inhabited. Millions of trees, Creek, food accessible everywhere

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Eric Spinner:

I called and spoke to the mother the day after the report was submitted. She informed me that her daughter was the one who had heard the scream behind their house, and wasn't currently home. Mom stated the details as they were reported, and also provided me with additional information with regards to the road crossing encounter. We decided that I would call back later that evening to speak with her daughter.

I was able to speak to both witnesses by phone, and gather more information regarding the encounters. The daughter described to me the sound of the scream/howl she heard through her open second story window. She told me it had an angry and resonating quality to it. It was more guttural, and extremely loud. The duration was between 30 and 60 seconds. It frightened her so bad that she closed the window and made sure all the doors were locked before returning to bed. She mentioned that she has also heard wood knocks and branch breaks over the past year coming from the woods across the street, usually after 1:00am. She also pointed out, that their two dogs refused to go outside around the time that these sounds were heard. This was highly unusual behavior for them. I made an appointment to meet with them at their residence.

I met with them on March 30th, 2016 accompanied by fellow BFRO Investigator, Art Mack and Heather P. We were invited into the home and I continued the investigation by asking more detailed questions.The daughter recalled how powerful the sound she heard was, and how badly it had frightened her. Mom was asleep at the time, and did not hear anything. We then learned more details surrounding the road crossing incident.

The women were returning home in late August 2015 at 9:00pm. They came around a bend in the road and between their headlights and the street light across from their house saw a tall, dark individual step out from behind a large conifer tree and cross the road on two legs from left to right. Mom stopped the car, and they observed it walking down the driveway towards the garage on the side of their house. It crossed the road in four steps, in a fluid movement. It never turned to look at them, but appeared to casually cross the road as "if it didn't have a care in the world." Both women looked at one another, and said "Bigfoot!"

We all went outside to investigate the area where the scream originated from. Their backyard backs up to the Wharton State forest, and there is a creek approximately 400 yards behind the house. We were able to ascertain that a path exists from the driveway and continues alongside of the steel garage building and continues straight into the forest. No tracks were found, but there was an unusual tree arched behind the garage that I felt was worth noting. Daughter stated that she thought the scream came from the back corner of the garage by how loud it was. We then went back out front, and proceeded to recreate the road crossing incident.

I had the two drive down the road, and when they were coming back down I exited from behind the tree and crossed in front of them. I had Heather film it using my GoPro camera. Afterwards, Art stood in the road holding a headlamp over his head to get an idea as to how tall the individual was. It was estimated to be in the 7 foot range and had a muscular build. The road measured 23ft across. The individual crossed it in only four steps, giving us an estimated 5-6ft stride. The hair was dark brownish/black, and very matted, roughly 4-6 inches in length. They could not make out any facial details, but did say that the head had a slight brow ridge and there was no visible neck. The arms swung back and forth as it crossed, and the hands came down to its knees. The ladies quickly parked in the driveway and got into the house. No unusual odors were noticed by either witness.

We finished up our investigation, and were invited to come back again during daylight hours to get a better lay of the land. I thanked them for their time, and told them that I definitely thought that they had seen a Bigfoot. I decided after leaving to inspect the area a bit more so we drove down the road and I went down a dirt road that leads into the woods behind their property. We drove for miles through the woods, and eventually came across high tension pole lines cutting through the forest. I exited my truck, and did a series of three calls. There was no response to them so we continued on our journey home.

After speaking to and meeting with the women, I feel that they are both credible witnesses, and did indeed hear and see what they are reporting. Therefore I give this report a solid Class A rating, with a Class B sub-rating for the scream. We will definitely be doing a follow-up in the future.

About BFRO Investigator Eric Spinner:

Eric Spinner is the owner of a health food store in Medford, NJ - a town that borders the Pine Barrens. He is a Certified Nutritional Consultant, and a Shiatsu Practitioner. Eric has attended the 2008 NW Pennsylvania Expedition, the 2009 Sunshine Coast BC Canada Expedition, the 2016 & 2020 So NY Expeditions, and 2021 & 2022 PA Expeditions. He also organized the 2023 PA East Expedition. Eric has been an investigator for the BFRO since 2009 and has been organizing New Jersey Expeditions since 2014. He makes numerous solo excursions into the NJ Pine Barrens, and Pennsylvania, and has done investigations in Missouri and Florida. He was most recently involved in the production of the South Jersey Sasquatch episode of Finding Bigfoot and was one of the witnesses featured during the Town Hall meeting.
Eric is cofounder of NASBRO, and host of Squatch Talks Podcast.