YEAR: 2023

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 10/06/2023

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: Cass County

LOCATION DETAILS: Location of figure : 47.2715028, -94.0594516

NEAREST TOWN: Bena, Federal Dam

NEAREST ROAD: Trail 2127 and 2266

OBSERVED: While my mother and I were grouse hunting up by Bena on Sixmile Like Road in the Mud Goose Management Area we both witnessed a bigfoot.

We were traveling down 2127 from East to West and my mom said woah back up. Down trail 2266 near the bend we seen a bigfoot off the trail in the grassy ditch and it slowly moved off the trail west to east. My mom asked me if it felt like it moved in super slow motion. I concurred.

The ditch at the site was 3ft down and the grass at the side of the trail was 3ft tall and the upper torso was 3-4ft showing above the grass leaving the bigfoot to be approximately 8-10ft tall.

We drove to the spot and both noticed a strong sulfur or rotting vegetation. When I got out of the car and immediately felt all my hair stand up on my body. I checked for any sign of footprints on the road. I could not see any due to the gravel being very packed down. There was a small bit of gravel disturbed in one spot near the west side of the road shoulder.

We later got stopped by the local CO [Conservation Officer, aka Game Warden - checks on hunters]. When we mentioned what we had seen and where it was, he remarked that's where people have been reported seeing a bigfoot. My mother and I have no doubt that we saw one.

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 myself and mother while grouse hunting

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 9:30am Temp 50 degrees and wind 10-15mph Overcast.

ENVIRONMENT: forest and lowland swamp

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Ontario Richardson:

I spoke at length with Jeff Stanley and separately with his mother, Suzy, about their encounter in early October. They were grouse hunting, driving slowly along Six Mile Lake Road near Mud Goose Trail.

They might not have spotted the figure down the side road if they had not been driving slowly and looking around for grouse. Suzy, the mother, spotted it first and shouted "What the Hell was that?!" Jeff hit the brakes and backed up.

Suzy had seen the giant back of what looked like a massive body. When they backed up, Jeff shouted “It's moving”!

What they saw was the figure turn to a side profile, showing the head to the waist of what appeared to be a giant, black, creature walking into the timber on two feet.

Jeff yelled for his mom to get her camera out in case they saw it again.

They described it as hulking, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson figure with a rounded head sitting low on the shoulders. It appeared to be looking down. Its head was almost "swallowed up by the huge shoulders" from their view angle. It had solid, dark hair with a uniform pattern over its body. The arms were long and slowly swung as it walked into the woods.

Based on the depth of the ditch and height of the grass it walked through they estimated it at around 8’ tall. Although it walked upright she described it as more ape-like than human.

After it disappeared into the woods and they drove back to the spot where it was seen. They had a moment to unpack what happened before they got out and walked towards where the figure had stood. They noticed a pungent smell which they described as rotting compost mixed with musty rags. They saw small mounds of dirt pushed up on the ground, similarly to what a toe would create.

Jeff brought up to their dad that they should take some pictures of what they were seeing. His dad said he wasn’t comfortable sticking around any longer, so they returned to the car.

Later that day they ran into the Game Warden. While he was checking their birds, Jeff blurted out what they had seen. The Game Warden responded with “That is where people report seeing those”. This caught the family off guard as they were expecting him to refute what they saw.

Jeff and Suzy are both very certain that the huge figure with long arms was not a bear.

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Notes from Matt Moneymaker:

I am inclined to think they saw a real bigfoot. There are bigfoots in this vicinity. I've heard them with my own ears. There was enough reports around the vicinity for "Finding Bigfoot" to shoot an episode within 5 miles of this location around 10 years ago. The small town of Remer is 16 miles to the south. It calls itself the "Home of Bigfoot" because of the number of sightings around there.

About BFRO Investigator Ontario Richardson:

- Native of Eastern Iowa

- BFA from Iowa State University (2015)

- National Account Manager for one of the largest contract security companies in the world

- Prior employment law as 911 Emergency Dispatcher

- Early years included family fishing trips in remote parts of Canada

- Several solo bigfoot investigations in Eastern and Southern Iowa

- Equipped for audio recording and casting tracks

- Attended 2023 Iowa BFRO expediton ; 2023 Minnesota BFRO expedition ; several private expeditions

- Recommended as BFRO investigator by expedition organzier Bob Barhite