YEAR: 1994

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: April

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Escambia County

LOCATION DETAILS: The Escambia river is in Florida,but in Alabama it is the Conecuh River,and when the river is flooded there is a lot of swamp. Location is north of Jay FL. south of Pollard Ala. approx.3 miles up river from hwy 4 bridge between Century and Jay Fla.in northwest Fla.

NEAREST TOWN: brewton alabama

NEAREST ROAD: hwy 31

OBSERVED: Dear BFRO,I have viewed your site, it is very good, it gave me guts to tell my story. I have never told anyone what happened to me in 1994, I was afraid people would consider me nuts. I was fishing on Escambia river on the Alabama, Florida line. The water was high from alot of rain, the swamps were flooded which made for good bass fishing. It was almost sundown, I noticed that everything was quiet, the frogs, birds, crickets,ect...I heard water spashing, I thought it was a deer leaping through the water but what I spotted was a two legged animal walking upright through shallow water and trees. It saw me and started wading toward me. The water got deeper, almost to it's chest, it turned away and went back to shallow water. It watched me for a couple of minutes and wandered back into the swamp. It never made a sound, but it tilted its head back and forth like it was trying to figure me out during the time it watched me..I have sinced purchased a camcorder, but I haven't seen it again..the one I saw, I would guess it was about six to six and one half feet tall. It was a dark tan in color but had a little black around it's shoulders. Its hair covered most of its body, but it had bare places on its face and elbows. I would guess it came within 75 yards of me. I was stunned and very scared. As soon as it was out of site, I left as soon as my motor would start..I often wonder what would have happened if I would have been in shallow water...it did not act as if it was going to attack. To me, it looked as if it was in dispair...there is a lot more to my story, but I'm not a very good typist..thanks...(Name omitted by BFRO)

ALSO NOTICED: judging by other pictures I've seen it looked very poor,unhealthy

OTHER WITNESSES: no other witnesses

OTHER STORIES: I have lived in this area mostly all my life,I am 48 years old and I haven't heard any other stories that would relate to this incident. That is one reason I have kept it to myself. I have been back to the area many other times, and not seen or heard anything out of the ordinary, but I keep going back and hoping...

TIME AND CONDITIONS: I would say around 7pm about 20 minutes before dark, this animal came into the open light, I saw it very good, the sunlight was still in its face.

ENVIRONMENT: very swampy,river nearby,between hwy 89 river bridge and hwy 4 river bridge

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Vince Lauria:

The witness had about a 4 minute view of the animal. Although he fishes the area often and sometimes at night, he has never seen anything before. He did relate an experience as a teen while fishing off a nearby bridge over a creek. It involved loud vocalizations and shaking of trees and bushes and caused he and his friends to run home in terror.

The witness later appeared on OLN TV's "Mysterious Encounters" and gave his testimony on camera. He has been consistent in his story. I also video taped this witness telling his story to another witness (near the sighting location) who had plaster casts of footprints from Berrydale, south of Brewton, Alabama. These two came across with sincerity.

The nearest towns are actually Pollard and Flomaton in Alabama and neighboring Century across the line in Florida. The area in question was the site of a documented sighting report by a truckload of workers of a similar animal. There are oil operations in the area and a hunt club which restricts access by the public.

This flood-plain area is full of scrub and larger trees including cypress and is extremely thick, while rich in wildlife and a variety of plant types. It also connects via the river to much more expansive forested areas.

Also, since this report was made, I have talked with a teenager who was driving an ATV in this area on hunt club land on a rainy day. He turned his head while stopped at a dirt road crossroads in time to see something tall, dark and hairy sprint across the road nearby at an extreme rate of speed.