YEAR: 1970

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 06/24/1970

STATE: South Carolina

COUNTY: Charleston County

LOCATION DETAILS: (EDITED) off of Hwy 78

NEAREST TOWN: Summerville

NEAREST ROAD: Edited per request of witness

OBSERVED: I'm not sure how to really explain the thing that my friends and I saw that year. I've not told too many people about it because I did'nt think that I would be believed. I am 47 years old and I can still remember what I saw and smelled just like it was yesterday. I can also remember the fear. It happened during the summer of 1970. I lived in a small community called Lincolnville S.C., right outside Summerville.There was'nt a whole lot for the kids in my neighborhood to do at night so hide and seek was our most popular passtime at night. One evening as we were outside playing I began to notice an awful smell, like something dead,a real overpowering smell. The place where I lived had a chainlink fence all around the property which was about 1-2 acres. We were on the backside of the property which had woods behind it.You could see red eyes glowing in the dark but I could not say how tall it was.I do know that it was taller than a human being. It just stood there and watched us.All of us were so scared that we went into my house and told my grandmother and cousin about it but were not believed. It was seen on many occasions.We could smell it before we ever saw it. There were several neighborhood dogs at that time that were found with crushed skulls but no one knew who or what had killed them. But one night my best friend and I decided to camp out in a mobile home that was on the backside of our property one night. Whatever this thing was walked around the trailer and hit on it and tried to get in. We could see it's shadow everytime it came around. It was the longest night of my life. It continued just until daylight. We hit the door running. One another night we were awakened by a loud thud on one side of our house. My brother came out screaming because it was at his window. We all went outside and we could hear it running slow heavy footsteps, it went over our fence into the woods,we did'nt see it but we could hear it. It got so that we quit playing outside because the kids were scared. I did see it one time after that.It was probably October of that same year.I had to go out to the pumphouse and turn the light off the well because we kept it on the pump at night to keep the water from freezing. I saw in the early morning sunshine this creature that looked like an ape standing on the other side of the fence watching me. It was tall had dark brown hair and it had a sloping forehead that looked like some kind of ape.I could not see the eyes because they were hooded. It was standing there just kind of rocking side to side. I can still see it plain as day in my mind right now as I write this. Anyway I backed into the house never taking my eyes off of it until I went inside. When I turned around it was gone.

OTHER WITNESSES: 5 we were all in the same locationh my backyard

OTHER STORIES: There had been a girl who said that she saw a creature with a lot of hair looking in her window one night. She lived up the street from me

TIME AND CONDITIONS: night with very little lighting axcept for yard light

ENVIRONMENT: small neighborhood with a few acres of woods

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator :Leevon Patrick:

I spoke at length with the witness on the phone about the series of encounters she witnessed as a youth back in 1970. She recalls the events occurring over a period of six months and then the activity ceased. This is one of those cases of repeated activity around a home with only women and children inside.

The animal would observe from a safe distance in the treeline. It would make itself known by loud thumps on the side of her house and trailer, in addition to peering in the window of her twin brother and others at night.

Her only clear visual of it was when she was turning the light off in the pumphouse right after sunrise. She recalled it rocking back and forth watching her. It was massive and greyish in color. It looked as though it was hooded due to its protruding browline and conical shaped head. She said it was very ape-like and definately not a man or a bear. It was very powerfully built.

The witness recalls that there were several dogs killed in the neighborhood. A very large sherpherd dog had its neck broken and head bashed in next door. The owner attributed its death to teenagers trying to steal carparts off the parked cars in the yard.
Although the town is more developed than it was 36 years ago, it is still surrounded by woods and various waterways. The Ashley river is nearby and so is Lake Moultrie.

The witness currently resides in Louisiana and is a mother of three.

About BFRO Investigator :Leevon Patrick:

Patty Lee (photo) lives in Lake County, Florida.

• B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Colorado
  
• Certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT)
• Traveled and camped extensively in Canada, Alaska, and Lower 48
• Former manager of a high end climbing and wilderness outfitting retailer in Virginia
• Organized the BFRO's November 2007 expedition in South Carolina

Patty attended the following BFRO expeditions:

• 2006 Central Florida (Lake County)
• 2006 Ohio (Columbiana County)
• 2006 Wisconsin (Price County)
• 2006 New York (Washington County)
• 2006 North Carolina (Madison County)
• 2006 West Virginia (Pocahontas County)
• 2007 Florida Expedition

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