YEAR: 2019

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 20

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Burlington County

LOCATION DETAILS: Franklin Parker Preserve, Speedwell Entrance. this all took place within a couple hundred yards of the parking area and gate.

NEAREST TOWN: Chatsworth

NEAREST ROAD: Route 563

OBSERVED: On June 20th at approximately 6:40 pm I was travelling on Route 563 south of Chatsworth near the Franklin Parker Preserve speedwell entrance. I was looking to see what the parking situation was there for a future hike so my eyes were on the right side of the road when out of the periphery I saw what I thought was a ground hog on the left. It was very large and I realized that it would have to be a huge ground hog so I looked fully to the left and I saw an approximate 3 to 3.5' tall creature stand up on two legs as I passed by. I did not get a good look at the face and I almost continued but I decided to turn around about 150 yards up on a dirt road that's on the right.

I pulled in and turned around and headed back to the location. There is a bend in the road there. It bends around to the right on the way back as I made it past the bend, approximately 30 yards in front of me the creature was still there. It was now fully turned towards me and I could see that it looked like a cross between Curious George and the character Chaka from the land of the lost. It's face and hands as well as the tops of it's feet were hairless and a light tan in color. The fur it was covered with was a golden brown a little darker than a golden retriever, very much like the color of a groundhog. I could not see the nose. Wen I locked eyes with it I could not see whites just big dark brown eyes. It stood there for a second or two when I rounded the bend and then took off running back into the swampy area. It ducked behind a short bush and when I drove past it I could no longer see it.

I turned the car around again and when I went by again it was gone. I waited there a bit to see if I could see anything moving in the field. I couldn't so I took off. It was a couple days before I shared the experience with my family and friends. In that period of time I thought for sure someone was going to report a missing kid in a Halloween costume.

When the thing took off running it was fast! I would describe it as the fastest kid on the 10-12 baseball team.

We had really bad storms that night and my commute was a disaster. It poured all through that area and I thought it was odd that the thing I saw appeared to be dry, at least the fur was.

ALSO NOTICED: There were lots of bad downpours and storms, nothing else unusual.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just me, looking for a particular landmark on the other side of the road.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 6:40pm

ENVIRONMENT: Pine Forest, Swamp. Attempting to enter the roadway out of a ditch on the side of the road

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Eric Spinner:

I conducted a 45 minute phone interview with Mike, and he restated the events of June 20th as reported above. He was also able to provide me with some additional information regarding the events leading up to his encounter, and also following it.

We made plans to meet at the location in order to do a full recreation of the encounter, and to learn more details. Fellow NJ BFRO investigators Art Mack and Heather Pacetti joined me with the recreation on site, and Mike was waiting for us when we arrived. After introductions I hopped into Mike's SUV and we began the recreation. I had my GoPro on the dashboard, and my H2n digital recorder going, and maintained radio contact with Art and Heather.

We did one pass with the vehicle and determined that Heather needed to be a bit closer to the side of the road on the return portion, so we proceeded to do a second pass.
Initially when Mike was driving down the road he was looking to the right, and caught a glimpse of what he thought was a groundhog, but then turned his head to look left just as the individual stood up.
His immediate thought was "That's one huge groundhog!" then as he kept driving he began questioning what it was, and battled with the decision to turn around or to keep going. He decided to use the next available spot to turn around, and after checking that no oncoming cars were approaching, he headed back to where he spotted it. He rounded the bend and about 70 yards ahead of him was the juvenile bigfoot standing on the side of the road facing him. When he got to about 35 yards away he locked eyes with it, and was able to see only dark brown eyes - No whites of the eyes, and that's when it turned and took off running in the direction of the swamp. He slowed his vehicle to almost a stop by where it was standing only moments before, and saw it go behind some bushes. He then turned his vehicle around again and pulled up to the parking area on the right and stopped. He waited a few minutes, but could no longer see it so he left.

After we did the recreation, we took measurements of the individual's height and shoulder width, and determined that it was closer to 4ft tall and about 18in across the shoulders and chest. He described the arms as thin, the chest not overly developed, and the legs were stockier, more muscular. He also confirmed that the hair was more auburn in color and about 3-4 inches in length. He mentioned how we had severe storms move through the area that evening and how they were moving in an easterly direction as to hamper his commute from work. He was surprised to see that the fur appeared to be dry, but somewhat matted.

I found Mike to be a credible witness and he was very clear with his reporting of the events. He previously had not been into the Bigfoot phenomenon and had not even seen an episode of Finding Bigfoot. He really thought he would hear that some kid in a Halloween costume went missing in the area but after a few days without seeing any reports of one he realized that he had seen a juvenile bigfoot. A rare sight to see indeed, and meeting with us helped to validate his experience.

The area where this occurred is a former cranberry bog land that has now been preserved by the State for recreational use. It is rich in flora and fauna, and has numerous lakes and streams. It is an area that I have conducted research in for over the past decade, and I recorded my first wood knocks and found my first juvenile track impressions nearby.

We stayed after Mike left, and conducted further research near the location. We used a Phantom 4 drone to conduct aerial surveillance of the area as well as thermal imagery. We were able to elicit responses from coyotes and barred owls, and also recorded some higher pitched screams that may have been a fox or maybe even a sasquatch.

About BFRO Investigator Eric Spinner:

Eric Spinner is the owner of a health food store in Medford, NJ - a town that borders the Pine Barrens. He is a Certified Nutritional Consultant, and a Shiatsu Practitioner. Eric has attended the 2008 NW Pennsylvania Expedition, the 2009 Sunshine Coast BC Canada Expedition, the 2016 & 2020 So NY Expeditions, and 2021 & 2022 PA Expeditions. He also organized the 2023 PA East Expedition. Eric has been an investigator for the BFRO since 2009 and has been organizing New Jersey Expeditions since 2014. He makes numerous solo excursions into the NJ Pine Barrens, and Pennsylvania, and has done investigations in Missouri and Florida. He was most recently involved in the production of the South Jersey Sasquatch episode of Finding Bigfoot and was one of the witnesses featured during the Town Hall meeting.
Eric is cofounder of NASBRO, and host of Squatch Talks Podcast.