YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: Unknown

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Carroll County

LOCATION DETAILS: If you came in the main entrance of the Atwood Campgrounds past the general camping, and what was the nature center in 1970s, you'd keep going till the road dead ends into cabins. There is a trail before that to the left and up a hill.

NEAREST TOWN: Spring Valley

NEAREST ROAD: County Road 114 and State Route 542.

OBSERVED: Hello, about two years ago, I finally got the courage to tell a Bigfoot researcher in Ohio my story from many years ago. I don't remember his name, but I lost contact with him when my computer got hit by a power surge and all info was wiped out.

In 1976, I was almost 13 years old. My family and I were camping at Atwood Lake. My favorite thing to do was to get on my bike, and walk in the woods collecting butterflies and bugs. One day I guess it was still before noon, I wandered up a hill by the cabins that were for rent on the edge of the lake. It was a little far even for me, but I was sure I'd find new bugs there. I had left my bike at the bottom of the hill and walked the path swishing my net. About 1/2 way up the path, I smelled something that was just like grass mounds when you cut the lawn and leave the grass to rot. Very musty. I don't remember exactly what made me look up but straight up the hill on the left hand side just off the path was this huge thing. It stood upright like a man but had longer dark hair and a face sorta small looking from the hair and a slightly pointed head towards the back. It looked my direction and I froze. I remember gasping for air and ran down the hill thinking it surely was chasing me. I don't know if it did, but if it had decided to come after me, it could have easily come down the hill where I rode my bicycle and caught me. I raced back to the camp site but didn't tell my parents or cousins for fear I'd never be allowed to go off by myself again. Oddly enough, I didn't go past the fields edge very close to camp after that.

I don't know if you believe me or not? I know what I saw so many years ago.You don't forget it......and for as much as I've ever glued myself to anything regarding Bigfoot, I know they exist, and I believe they are peaceful. You're welcome to email me. It would be nice to know at 39 that I'm not the only one. I know what I saw and smelled was real. Thanks for your time.

OTHER STORIES: A few years later when I was 17, a friend of mine decided to camp out in the woods of his father's farm in Sugarcreek. We sat around the fire talking and laughing until about 12:30 AM and then decided to crawl into our sleeping bags and go to sleep. It had to be June or July of 1981 or so. Once in my sleeping bag I curled up and could just see the campfire dying out when I heard a howl that made me want to pack up and leave right then. It wasn't dog, or coyote. It was scary and awful. My friend decided it best to come into my pup tent. I know he heard it to, but denied it. I laid there scared to death and wide awake watching the fire still dying and heard footsteps like a man walking. There was no one up in those woods. We both laid awake until sunlight and struck camp and headed down the hill to the farm. I looked around for signs that someone had been up there with us, but it was covered in leaves. I asked my friend about the howl and he said it could have been a number of things I heard, but never admitted he heard it too.

Somewhere in the late 1970s other sightings were reported to the Stark County Sheriff's dept. Don't remember about what, I was young.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: The sighting occurred before noon, and the weather was sunny and warm.

ENVIRONMENT: Thickly forested hills in eastern Ohio surrounding a 1500+ acre lake..

Sighting location is just up the trail from the ten cabins located on the map.

Follow-up investigation report:

The witness noted that she hiked around a 1/4 mile up the trail looking for bugs. Then, the birds became silent and there was an awful smell in the air, which made her look off towards the left side of the trail into the woods. There, about 50 feet away is where she saw the creature standing very still. She thought it might have been a weird type of tree until the upper torso turned and she could see the creature looking directly at her. She estimates that the creature was at least seven feet tall and very wide in proportion. Its body was covered with black colored hair that was somewhat matted on the torso but very smooth looking on the arms. The arms hung to at least the knees. The face was very flat looking, had dark set eyes, an almost una-brow forehead (she doesn't remember the mouth), and its head sloped to a point in the back. The following year she went to the Cleveland Zoo to see the silver back gorillas and said the creature she saw looked more human than ape, was much larger than the silver back, and was at least another eight to ten inches wider at the shoulders.

She never told her parents until she was out of High School about her experience in fear of ridicule. To check out a map of the campground area at Atwood Lake, go to this website.