YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: April

DATE: 10

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Ste. Genevieve County

LOCATION DETAILS: At the time it was called John J. Audibon Historical Trail. It was on a county road in a forest.

NEAREST TOWN: Womack

NEAREST ROAD: HWY [T]

OBSERVED: While laying down and preparing to go to sleep we heard foot prints coming our way from within the woods. Not knowing what it was I grabbed a handful of chat from the ground and threw it in the direction of the steps. The creature took a number of steps back into the woods. Then it stopped and started coming back towards us.

It was a two legged creature. You could tell it was walking on two legs. At that point we both got up and ran to the car. We then drove back and forth returning to gather what we could off of the ground and we left the area. At this point we drove back to the highway and to a roadside park where we spent the rest of the night in the car.

The next morning we went back, restarted our fire from the night before, I prepared breakfast, eggs and bacon. After cleaning up the dishes we began walking the trail [ Mark Twain National Forest ].

Approximately 1 mile in we stopped at a spring I knew about to get a drink and fill our canteens and continue down the trail which followed a creek. After walking another mile or so I heard a noise coming from our right, I looked to my right and then I saw it.

Up the wooded hill I saw a reddish long haired man type of creature, approximately 7-8 foot tall running through the woods.

I was able to see it for around 5 steps before it cleared the top of the hill and disappeared. At this point I turned to the girl I was with and asked her if she saw it. She said no but at this point I was ready to go and she didn't argue with me and we walked back down the trail to her car and we left.

I got no argument from her. She was with me the night before when we heard it outside our camp. I was dating another girl who I eventually married, the girl I was with was not her. I was a JR in high school at the time.

ALSO NOTICED: I noticed what appeared to be a large heal print next to the spring where we filled our canteens.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, there was 1. She was in collage and was a belly dancer. We were walking down the trail.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: During the night around 11:30 pm and the next morning at approximately 10:00 am. It was clear during the day with few clouds.

ENVIRONMENT: The trail head was next to a creek and a low water bridge on a gravel road. It was a wooded area.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

I contacted witness via email, then set up a phone interview. He is very credible.

As stated, he and his girlfriend were settling in for the night, when they heard definite "heavy & rhythmic" bipedal footsteps in the woods, seemingly headed straight towards them. He reached outside the tent, grabbed and hand full of chat (gravel) and tossed it in the direction of the footsteps.

Whatever it was stopped, and took "7-8 steps" backwards in a "kind of running, about twice the walking gait " they had just heard. Then after a few seconds, it started back towards them.

At that point, They were totally creeped out and they decided whatever it was was large & determined and they hopped in the car and "tore out of there".

As mentioned, they went back and forth a few times and grabbed stuff that was valuable/essential, and spent the rest of the night in a small rest area.

The next morning they went back to the campsite and restarted the fire, had breakfast, and followed pretty much what he had stated above. Then they headed out for hiking the trail.

The following is the description of the sighting and physical characteristics of the creature:

> 7-8 ft. tall, using the trees as a reference.
> Mostly oval head shape.
> Walked upright, with no hunching
> It was slender, though it was "very well built"
> "not chunky like Patty" (Patterson/Gimlin film).
> Very long arms and hair was 5-6 in all over.

He only had a side view, so no facial or other features were noted at that distance.

It was running and covered 30 yards very quickly before it was gone into the woods.

As he stated, girlfriend did not see it. She was several steps behind him as they hiked. When he said, "we need to leave", there was no argument from her.

He was young at the time, no cell phones, and he had "some general knowledge" of Sasquatch, pretty much what he had heard here and there.He couldn't say why he was scared of the steps in the woods, other than it "walked very heavily, and it was unknown" to him. Just a funny feeling he should leave.

When they went back the next morning, he saw what he "assumed" was the same creature from the night before, a half mile or so from the camp where it happened.

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[Notes from Matt Moneymaker:


This area is near the eastern boundary of northeastern-most portion of Mark Twain National forest (Twain NF) -- the closest it gets to the Mississippi River on this side of MO.

The boundary of Twain NF is not a boundary that Sasquatches would be aware of.

It is not a starkly obvious boundary where continuous farmland suddenly becomes continuous forest. That is certainly the case elsewhere but not here.

The Twain Nat For is interwoven with small grandfathered farms within its boundaries. So the landscape doesn't change dramatically when you cross out of it. There's just a higher ratio of farm to forest outside its boundaries.

If you want to test this area to see if Sasquatches are still around this location, the best approach would be to scout the John J. Audubon Historic Trail during the day and then come back before sundown and walk along it without a flashlight until midnight or so. The loop trail is 12 miles so there's a lot of forest both inside the loop and outside the loop.

You will hear Sasquatches before you see them, if they're still around. There's a good chance that Sasquatches are still in the vicinity because the area has not changed much since the 1970's.





The 12 mile loop of John J. Audubon Trail near Womack, MO

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.