YEAR: 2017

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 02

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Polk County

LOCATION DETAILS: Old Lake Wales Road and 653 runs into Thompson Nursery Road.

NEAREST TOWN: Lake Wales

NEAREST ROAD: 653

OBSERVED: Today me, my mother and my son were coming back from a doctors appointment for my son. We were driving along a road that we have been many times. It's a nice little stretch of road with a great view. The land is beautiful with lots of natural Florida woods with swamp areas. There are also many orange groves in this area. It's not uncommon to see turkeys, hogs and occasional deer. The pasture land has cows on it from time to time. When this sighting happened there were no cows around.

It was about 12:15 pm. The weather was over cast and it was going to rain at any minute. No other cars around. We passed one after the sighting down the road when we turned around to go back. We have had a ton of rain in this area lately.

As we were traveling down the road we came up on this swampy area in a very large oak hammock. My 17 yr old son was the first to ask if me and my mother saw that? My 72 year old mother said yes but what was it? I said I saw it too...we keep driving for about 2 minutes we said nothing then my mother said turn around and go back. We all saw something and we need to go back and look. So I turned around and went back. But it was not there as far as we could see. We pulled up to the area and just sat there. All of us trying to figure out what we saw.

We all saw a human like figure standing out in the middle of the marshy swampy area up to it's waist in water. The figured appeared to be a dull brown color. It was wide across the shoulders with hair and looked like moss hanging from it. It was standing up with it's long limbs away from it's body. The head was kinda down. The shape of the head was different. My oldest son described the head as different from a human. We are not sure what exactly it was doing. In the past we have seen cows out in this marshy swampy area. My Mother was trying to justify what she saw hating to admit that it was beyond strange. But she did admit at how very strange it was.

I turned the truck around and we headed home. We talked about it a little more and then just let it die. We had a very stressful morning after coming from an appointment to see if my son had cancer. He did not and we were all so dazed seeing that was over kill. Very emotional day.

ALSO NOTICED: That all three of us basically saw the same thing it was very strange.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself
My Mother
My oldest Son

OTHER STORIES: When I was young I used to here stories about the Boogy man out there. The locals were old Florida crackers that believed there was a Wildman that lived in the woods.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was in the middle of the day around 12:15pm. The weather was extreme overcast fixing to rain. We have had alot of rain lately.

ENVIRONMENT: Natural Florida swamp and pasture land. Surrounded by orange groves. Oak Hammocks Pine trees. Hundreds of acres natural Florida land.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:

I spoke to the witness several times, she is a third generation Floridian.

Tropical Storm Emily had just passed through the area a day earlier. The weather was still overcast and drizzling. The three family members were traveling North on Hwy 653 by car towards Thompson Nursery Road, just after noon on August 2, 2017. On the left side of the road all three noticed a large human figure in a swampy area about 75 yards away as they passed it. The mom turned the car around but the figure was gone when they drove by again. They insist it was not a cow or tree, but a large human figure.

They described it as a human-like figure that was dull brown in color, similar to a “brown palm frond.” It was mid-waist in the water and had its arms out of the water. The arms appeared to have something hanging from them. It was standing still and its head was looking down. The torso was large, and they couldn’t see the legs. The head seemed oblong, conical.

The area is a cow pasture and very rural. There are orange groves and farms nearby. Railroad tracks and a powerline road run along the back side of the location sighting.

Google earth image of the location:

About BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:

Re Monteith has had a life-long interest in Bigfoot and has an extensive background in outdoor land and ocean survival as well as mountaineering. She has tran-sailed the Atlantic, backpacked in remote places throughout the world and has climbed three of the seven summits. She studied International Relations at Florida International University, and is a Financial and Real Estate Consultant. She has participated in many private expeditions as well as the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 BFRO North Florida Expeditions and the 2013 BFRO UP Michigan & Alabama Expedition. She also organized Florida's 2017 Town Hall Meeting. She was an Executive Producer of the documentary film, "Skunk Ape Lives" and featured as a Crypto Expert on The Science Channel's television show, Strange Evidence for seasons 2 - 5.