YEAR: 2020

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 14th

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Boone County

LOCATION DETAILS: It was on the bottoms of the Missouri River South of Hartsburg Mo about 1500ft.

NEAREST TOWN: Harsburg

NEAREST ROAD: South Bush Landing Road

OBSERVED: Thursday, May 14th 2020. 10:30 am. South of Hartsburg MO. About 1500 hundred ft south of town on South Bush Landing Road.

Hartsburg is a small community of around 100 people. The area is on the bottoms of the Missouri River. A bike trail called "Katy Trail" runs North and South through Hartsburg.

My wife was taking care of her 93 year old mother and I decided to drive down to the river and look around. There were a lot of people riding bikes on the trail because of the pandemic going strong and no one could work or shop. It was a sunny warm day.

I was driving south slowly when I looked up ahead on the road and I saw a big figure moving across the road in a very fast pace. Not running but, walking in big fast strides. It looked like vert big person, tall, thick, and brown in color all over. I thought it was weird for a guy to be walking across a farmers field coming east from the river and heading in a straight line to the bluffs. Farmers will ride their ATVs when they are in the fields checking on things. I thought it was wearing a heavy brown coat with a cone shaped hood.

There was fresh planted soy in the fields and I could see this thing from head to foot. When I first saw it I was about a 100 yards away. I was driving slowly. By the time I reached where he crossed the road he had covered at least 200 yards and walking away from me. I had no camera or binoculars with me that day. I turned down a farmers dirt track road to head toward the thing. When I merged on the road and drove toward it, it turned North and headed toward Katy Trail. I never got any closer to him than the 100 yards and that was because it was moving very fast, swinging its arms. I drove on back to my folks house after that.

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: No

OTHER STORIES: Not to my knowledge.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 10:30am, sunny and warm.

ENVIRONMENT: On open bottom plains with fresh soy beans planted on about a 3000 acre area. Very open and flat.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

I spoke with the witness just a little over 2 months since his event. He was clear and succinct as to the sighting.
He is a retired medical technician and meticulous with details.

As he mentioned he was driving alone while his wife was caring for her mother. This is an area he is quite familiar with, as he hunts a nearby conservation area with a buddy during turkey season every year. As he got on the trail, he noted all the people on the trail were riding bikes. There was no foot traffic. It was a clear sunny day and vision was excellent. He saw the creature about 100 yards away from him up the road. The road is straight and clear, with no obstructions between he and the figure.

Details of sighting and description of the creature: He was cruising along at 10 MPH and was basically at idling speed and had his foot mostly on the brake due to the bikers. When he saw the figure it was coming from the direction of the river. It was walking at a brisk pace "like it had a purpose". He stopped the car when he saw it, "about 100 yards away, no further".

The general coloration of the creature "blended in with the chipped rock road, mostly grey & brown with a few black patches". "Kind of splotchy". It seemed to be "wet from the thighs on down and gave the impression of having dark legs, but it was likely because of having been in the (Hatrsburg) creek".

"When I first saw it I thought it may have been an indigent or homeless person wearing a hood". He then started moving towards it and thought it was not a person but rather a Sasquatch. "It had a conical head and a massive build with very very long arms that swung a lot as it walked".

He got no facial or otherwise physical features since it was at a mostly side profile. The figure then quickened its pace and headed out through a freshly planted soybean field (ankle high) and disappeared into some woods. Duration of the sighting was 1.5 to 2 minutes.

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.