YEAR: 2016

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 7

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Lake County

LOCATION DETAILS: Near Ellison Creek and Cloverdale Lake

NEAREST TOWN: Concord Township

NEAREST ROAD: Prouty Road close to interstate 90

OBSERVED: Not sure What I saw, I thought it may have been a Black bear since they are starting to populate Northeast Ohio. I was in the back of my property and cutting the grass and clearing the path I use behind my house in the woods to target shoot. It was earlier this fall in the beginning of October. I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I stopped the mower and looked towards something I saw moving in the brush along a ravine. I did not see it's face but I watched it for about a minute walking away from me. The funny thing is that it was walking upright which I know bears can do but I am not sure for how long. I am not sure if the mower I was riding startled it. I wanted to contact the local law enforcement but they would think I was crazy. All I can say for sure is that there has been a number of Gunieas and turkeys that my neighbor raises that have been eaten, since I find the feathers all over the place in my pasture and in my neighbors property. My neighbor has even put up a trail camera but to date all he has captured was some coyotes and foxes on it. I have not told anyone not even my neighbor who put up the trail cameras for fear they will think I am crazy. He thinks it is just the fox or coyotes. I investigated the area the next day and I am not ashamed to say I was afraid that day. All I found was disturbed brush and a game trail that I imagine the deer and other animals use. It feels good to write this story for my peace of mind.

ALSO NOTICED: It felt like I was being watched, that feeling you get when a chill runs down your spine. I put pumpkins back there for the deer at the end of September and they were gone. Not picked at and eaten just gone.

OTHER WITNESSES: None, just myself.

OTHER STORIES: I have lived here ten years and have never heard of anything like this.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was about 4 p.m. in the afternoon and the weather conditions were dry and pleasant for the month of October in Northeast Ohio.

ENVIRONMENT: The environment is wooded with different maple and Oak trees. The location is just north of the Geauga County border near Ellison Creek. The area is hilly and rugged.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Alan Megargle:

I arrived an hour before nightfall in a pretty heavy snow storm and observed the location to be heavily wooded with several nearby water sources. The house and property sit back from the road a bit with most of the forested area behind their home. The witness took me to the location where the animal was last seen. The landscape is thick with trees and slopes down slightly into a ravine with a small creek running through the bottom of it. The ravine and creek run north towards Cloverdale Lake and the entire area is private property used for hunting in the fall. The rest of the year there is little to no human traffic through there.

I placed myself in the bottom of the ravine, standing in the creek where the witness first spotted the creature, and had them return to the spot they were during the encounter. The witness estimated the creature to be 1-2ft taller than myself, I’m just a hair over 6ft tall. The animal had longer hair, much longer than a bear, walked upright throughout the whole encounter, which lasted a few minutes, and was very dark in color. Since it walked down the creek at the bottom of the ravine no tracks were visible and the property line prevented further investigation to the north.

I ran into the neighbor, who was bow hunting in the wooded area just east of the witness’s property, and they invited me to look around on their land. They had a few tree stands and deer feeders placed around their property and one trail camera. They’d only really seen coyotes, foxes and smaller animals like squirrels on their camera. The neighbor did say he’s seen a drastic decrease in the deer population on their property and surrounding woods over the last few years.

The witness seemed very credible and the area looks right for an incident of this type. There is plenty of water nearby and ample food supply with the farms and local wildlife. Between the description of the animal from the witness, the lack of deer nearby and the recent loss of farm animals it’s very possible a Bigfoot moved through here in October. There is enough area for a large animal to live for a season at most, it would likely have to move on after a few months. I left contact information and will follow up if anything else turns up in the future.

About BFRO Investigator Alan Megargle:

Alan works full time as a process engineer for a Fortune 500 electronics manufacturing company in Northeast Ohio. He has assisted in several BFRO investigations and interviewed many witnesses. Alan also manages all of the audio/video aspects of the annual Ohio Bigfoot Conference.