YEAR: 1990

SEASON: Summer

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Delta County

LOCATION DETAILS: I believe the FM # is 3310 it runs from Commerce into Delta County. The location is from Ivory Moore park in Commerce-The park is on an unpaved county road that runs into 3310. At the time I was at the sheriffs dept this road was not yet numbered. I havn't been in this area in at least 3 years

NEAREST TOWN: Commerce

NEAREST ROAD: Fm3310 I believe runs from Commerce into Delta County

OBSERVED: I live in Northeast Texas close to the town of Commerce. I was witness to several incidents when I lived just outside Commerce. At the time I was employed for the Delta County Sheriffs Dept as a deputy. It was around 1990 and a friend and I were in the business of buying dairy calves to raise and resell. My friend lived in an area close to the town of Horton. The actual town is now under water - part of Cooper Lake. This was a very remote area of dense thick woods running all the way to Sulphur Springs. My friend began finding his calves dead at the barn. It appeared that their necks had been broken. This all came to a head on an evening as he heard his boar hog squealing loudly from the pen. The pen was located at the edge of the woods. My friend had a very mean boar hog that weighed around 400lbs. He called me on the phone and told me to come as fast as I could. When I arrived he was almost in shock and told me that he went and grabbed his rifle and went to the barn. He said that he saw a very tall hairy creature lifting this boar hog over the pallet fence. My friend fired a shot at it and it dropped the hog and ran off. My father and I went to the pen and found a set of tracks. These resembled a very large human foot in the dirt. My father - a retired Dallas police officer, contacted my friend's neighbor. The neighbor was also a retired police officer and professor at Northeast Texas Community College. He came and called a couple of his students and plaster casts were made of the print. Several pics were taken of the cast and one was even printed in the local paper. The cast went on display at the college in the science dept. I have the cast. At this time I am still trying to find where it was stored to get the dimensions for you. As we were talking with my friend's neighbor, he advised that he oversaw a cabin across from him (bordering my friend's land) way back in the woods. The owner had said that strange things were happening at this place. We saw that the tracks went due east toward this other piece of property. We went to the cabin and saw several more of the footprints going in a circle around the cabin. Over time we saw and measured two other sets of tracks. The only size I remember was 12 inches. The other tracks were bigger than the set we cast. The strange happenings always started in the spring and continued until the late fall. His property is about 2 miles from the Horton bottoms where I know several people who have seen this creature but would not go public for fear of being thought crazy. One was chased out of the bottoms while duck hunting at a slew (see Report #7568). I have since moved to a different part of the county. About eight years ago a friend and I were walking along the Sulphur River and found tracks going to the water as if to get something to drink. As I said I am still looking for the cast as my dad put it into storage. As soon as it is found I would be glad to send a pic to you. In the cast you can clearly see the tissue ridges on the bottom of the toes - much like ours. I am curious if anyone has ever reported anything like this in this area. I have nothing to gain from telling this story. I have been a law enforcement officer in this area for 13 years. At first I told a couple of people of what I had seen and most thought I was crazy. Thanks to the internet I can relay this story to you. Please feel free to contact me if you wish. Thank You.

ALSO NOTICED: We continued to find tracks on this part of the property. My friend and I hunted on it until we had an encounter. We didn't see anything but what ever it was kept moving in a circle around us. It was not worried about making noise as most wild animals do.

OTHER WITNESSES: There were a total of 5 including myself. Myself and my father. Who were called to the scene by my friend. The professor (my friend's neighbor) who was called by my dad. And 2 students who were called by the professor.

OTHER STORIES: I have a friend who has lived in the bottoms all his life. He is a retired government employee. He has seen the tracks and creature many times. In fact he was chased out of the swamp where he was hunting ducks. I'm sure he would be willing to talk to someone if contacted. (see Report #7568).

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Weather was clear and warm.

ENVIRONMENT: Wooded area close to the Sulphur River.

Follow-up investigation report:

I have corresponded with the witness via telephone and emails. I consider him to be extremely credible. I have also spoken to the teacher at Northeast Texas Community College. I deemed him to be equally credible. I have not been able to speak with the individual who had the sighting on his property involving the hog, and thus I have classified the report as a Class B for now. If and when I am able to speak to the witness who actually saw the creature, I will upgrade to Class A.

I was able to gain the names of some other individuals in the area who have had encounters. I am presently following up so that the BFRO can document the encounters. The witness who submitted the report has also had another encounter in Fannin County. That encounter is presently under investigation for ongoing activity.

This area is among many in the Red River – Sulphur River corridor of Northeast Texas where these creatures seem to dwell.

I will amend this report as additional data becomes available.