YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 17

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Shannon County

LOCATION DETAILS: DD Hwy off of HWY 60 E, last curb before blacktop turns to gravel.

NEAREST TOWN: Winona

NEAREST ROAD: DD Hwy of HWY 60 E

OBSERVED: It was a humid Spring night (9ish) & I was headed home from a trip to town to take movies back & pick up a few things for the house. I was rounding the last curb before my driveway when my headlights caught a figure starting to cross the road. I had to stop on the hwy so I wouldn't hit it so I got a good look at what was crossing the road but didn't realize what I was seeing and everything happened so fast. It was Between 7&8 feet tall, apeish like, but walked upright, long arms, crossed hwy in 3 to 4 steps, grey or dirty white hair, it looked at me but I don't remember seeing eye color, and the smell was awful (window was down). I'll never forget that sight or smell. I was unnerving. I live in area surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forests in the hills of the Ozarks, surrounded by rivers & Springs. I'm 100% positive I see & smelt Bigfoot. It almost acted as if my lights was hurting it's eyes and moving like it was old (like how old aged animals move slower). The smell though, was disgusting. Putrid.

ALSO NOTICED: Just the smell, it almost made me puke. I've never smelled that before or after. It walked upright but didn't walk like a person.

OTHER WITNESSES: It was just me. I was on my way back from town. I had to go return movies and grap a few things from the store for the house to be prepared for severe thunderstorms headed our way.

OTHER STORIES: Yes. Most folks around here don't talk about things they've seen but a few have. Someone has told about seeing a Bigfoot at Rocky Falls which is straight across the woods on the other side of 60 hwy from where I encountered what I did. After telling my ex boyfriend & his brother what I had seen they told me other people that lived out there had talked about seeing 2 small monkey like creatures that walked upright in almost the same place.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9ish p.m., very humid night, dark & cloudy but the moon was full & added little light due to cloud coverage. I seen it so well because my headlights was right on it.

ENVIRONMENT: DD Hwy runs through the Mark Twain National Forest. It's piney & very wooded. Not very populated by people, It's 5+ miles from town.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

I had a nice conversation with the witness. As she stated, she was headed back home after a snack run and returning movies. Since it was very humid, she had her windows down in the car. As she turned south off the main highway onto the gravel road to her home, she saw a creature starting to cross the road in front of her. It "put it's arm up for a second to block the light from headlights".

Since she was on the last curve before she got to her house, she was already slowing down anyway. Now seeing this creature she slowed even more. She estimated she was less than 100 feet from it. She eventually settled on "5-6 cars lengths". It moved from right to left and "walked like an old person, slow and methodical". It was whitish/grayish and seemed "dirty".

She never saw the face. She had come to a complete stop as the creature crossed in front of her.

It had looked her way as it crossed the road but she saw no eye color. The hair was in the way so there was little more than a fleeting glimpse of the eye area anyway. She estimated the size as "closer to seven feet than eight" based on it being nearly twice the height of her vehicles hood. It had "very long arms, walked upright with a slight humped over forward leaning gait".

And the "smell was simply awful, disgusting and putrid". Her windows were down due to the humid weather, and she got the full force of the stench.

Between her headlights and the ambient light of the moon bouncing off the clouds, there was enough light for her to see it very clearly. She has no doubts about what she saw. I found her to be very truthful and sincere. She was definitely rattled by the event. Many stories from neighbors, friends and acquaintances about events in her area.

The thing that was most interesting to me was her description of it "walking like an old person" as it crossed the road. Her assessment was that it just "couldn't move any faster than that". Add in the gray/white color which would be a human trait of aging and perhaps that explained it. It did to her anyway.

I am familiar with this area. She is in midst of Mark Twain National Forest. I have been investigating this area for years, with numerous reports investigated by myself and others. My brother has a 20 acre blueberry farm not more than 25 miles or so from her location.

About BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

Carter is originally from Texas & moved to Missouri in 1988. Professional drummer for 20 years. Improv & sketch comic and writer for 5 years. Lighting technician for major touring groups for several years. Experienced outdoorsman and was a trained investigator for MUFON. Studied Herpetology in college. Longtime special interest in Sasquatch long term habituation, burial research, infra sound, language & stick structures. He led three Missouri BFRO Public Expeditions:, 2012 & 2013 & 2014. Led public expedition for BFRO in Illinois in 2019.Participated in Iowa, 2012 Illinois. Michigan 2016. Private Expeditions: Illinois 2011, 2012, 2013. Missouri 2011, 2012 (3) 2013(2) 2014. Iowa 2012, 2014 & 2015. Consulted on two Animal Planet Finding Bigfoot TV shows. Expedition leader in Missouri 2013 (1) & 2014 (2) & Illinois Expedition 2019 (1). Led night ops on numerous BFRO expeditions. Hosted a public Town Hall meeting in Missouri in 2017.