YEAR: 1985

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: November

DATE: fri - sun

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Osceola County

LOCATION DETAILS: 100 thousand + acre ranch and private hunting reserve between Lake Kissimme and Tiger Lake. Long leaf pine, palmetto heads and oak hammocks.
I will provide more specfic directions after I speak to a researcher.

NEAREST TOWN: Fedhaven

NEAREST ROAD: Sam Keene blvd.

OBSERVED: The incidents all took place on a private reserve of land called River Ranch over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend of 1985, friday night through early sunday afternoon. My uncle and I arrived at the family cabin at around 10 p.m. friday night and for the next hour or so we opened up the cabin, tested the generator and put the food in the refrigerator. My uncle had planned a full day of hunting the next day so we turned in after everything was put away. I had no trouble falling asleep and all was peaceful and very quiet. The next thing that happened still puts a chill up my spine 20 years later. I just remember waking up for no reason at almost 2 a.m. and then feeling very unsafe. About 10 seconds later, I heard some kind of crunching on the ground near the screen porch. Louder than the sound we were making ourselves walking on the same ground. Then, a few seconds later, I heard the screen door open then close quickly but not long enough for someone to come in. It was just click, woosh click. The second thing that struck me as odd was that my uncle's red nose pit was awake but still curled up at the foot of the bunks. I could see his eyes moving around but he was not going to move a muscle. Not the case at home. I didn't move from the bunk until it was light enough to see. From that point on, the only way to describe the rest of the trip is that it was very bizarre and un-relaxing. We are both 100% convinced that we were being watched and maybe even stalked by something.

ALSO NOTICED: There were several very strange things, including a sighting by my uncle, over the entire trip.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself and my uncle.

OTHER STORIES: No. I haven't been back there since.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Day and night off and on for the entire trip. The weather was near perfect. Sunny, cool and dry.

ENVIRONMENT: The only landmark I can provide at this time is what I believe is called the Avon Bombing Range.
I could be wrong about the name but there is one near there. The property itself is called River Ranch and is not to be confused with the publicly
acsessible camping grounds of the same name. Trespassing is definatly forbidden.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Wright:

This witness was interviewed for about 45 minutes on the evening of 10/1/07. He was very pleasant, serious, and actually offered more information than was in the 3 year old report. Including the additional information, there were three separate events that occurred and will be reported herein.

The first event occurred shortly after their arrival at their hunting cabin. They were in a jeep, transporting oranges to pig feeders at various locations, and collecting firewood. They were about a hundred yards away from two isolated pines of about 60' in height, and about 6' apart. They both noticed something very large, "way taller than us", standing between the trees, taking up a significant space between them. The witness looked down for a moment to stand up in the jeep, and when he looked back a second later, it was gone. He immediately had the hair go up on the back of his neck, and he stated that his 60 year old uncle had "the living $#!+ scared out of him!" He said the grass in that area was about 4' high and the entire upper torso of the creature stood about 4' above the grass. He described the creature as being covered with dark fur and very tall, with no visible neck.

The second incident of the hunting trip happened the following night. The witness awoke at about 02:00, and heard footsteps outside the cabin. He acknowledged in retrospect that free range cattle in the area could easily have been responsible for crunching sounds outside. However, he then heard the screen door open and then close quickly, obviously NOT a cow or steer. He stated that his uncle's pit bull curled up on the floor was alert with his hair standing up, but completely uncharacteristically, did not bark or make any sound of alarm. In his own fear, the witness stayed under the covers until light.

The third incident described by this witness occurred the following day, when he and the dog were taking oranges down a trail to a pig feeder. Both apparently developed a strong feeling of extreme trepidation or dread, evident in that they both stopped dead in their tracks at precisely the same moment. The witness described that as a feeling of "STOP! Don't go any further!" He described the hair on his own body, as well as that of the dog standing on end, resulting in their immediate vacating the area.

The witness described the remainder of the hunting trip being spent in nervous apprehension by both he and his uncle. He also recalled hearing numerous stories of similar sightings in the area.

This investigator found the witness to be precise and analytical about his experiences.

About BFRO Investigator David Wright:

• Certified Florida Master Naturalist (U. of Florida)
  
• Visual Tracker, Level 1
• Teaches Biology, A.P. Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Science at a rural high school SE of Jacksonville
• See local TV interview with D. Wright
• Participated in the 2007 Private Florida Expedition [Click the video link on that page.], the 2007 South Carolina Expedition, the 2008 South Florida Expedition and assisted with the organization of the 2008 North Florida Expedition. Assisted with the organization of the 2009 Central Florida Expedition.