YEAR: 1988

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: September

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Tuscarawas County

NEAREST TOWN: Urichsville

NEAREST ROAD: county rd ??? also called water something rd ?

OBSERVED: I grew up in Urichsville, OH right outside of town. I believe the rd was called water co. rd or something like that. Anyway up the hill there was a large unbroken tract of woods we used to play in. My friend and I were in the woods way down the road. It was definitely the more remote part. I remember there were farm fields across the road. On the far side of the hill was the Moravian trail. It must have been late summer the day wasn't overly hot and it was around four in the afternoon. I think i was about 9 yrs old so it would have been 1988. I know it's strange to be just now talking about but however minor it was it has been burned into my memory. We were hiking up from the road across from the farmers fields just exploring being kids when a rock hit a tree next to me and Luke. I looked up the hill and about 50 feet up the hill was what looked like a six foot tall black man but the thing about that scared the shit out of me and luke is that it was black all over and i mean black not brown black. I admit i only saw it for a second. It took off and we took off just as quick. At the time I had never heard of bigfoot and my child mind had to make sense of it somehow so we told our parents a black man threw rocks at us. I remember my dad called the farmer to tell him. The thing is there was one black kid in the whole town at that time. What I remember wasn't a man, I will say that. One other thing i remember is it seemed to be gauging our reaction maybe if we were a threat I remember its posture. It seemed to sway with it's shoulders forward when i saw it. We moved from Ohio when i was 11 I live in alaska now and i have never seen anything like it.

OTHER WITNESSES: My friend, we were walking

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3-4 p.m. it was clear not a cloud in the sky light was strong

ENVIRONMENT: It was hardwood forest lots of hills and hollows
across the road a little ways down was a pretty major river

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Rachel Luffman:

I spoke with the witness about his encounter. The memory of what happened that day is very clear in his mind. From our conversation I can add the following details:

- When the rock hit the tree next to the two boys it made a loud thud, startling them and causing them to look towards the direction it came from. They saw a dark figure standing there looking at them.

- It was definitely at least six feet tall, but not much more than that.

- It had a solid, stocky build and probably weighed 250-300 pounds.

- It was very dark in color. The hair seemed to be short.

- The witness did not notice facial features because he was focused on the eyes. He said the bigfoot had an intense look and was watching them intently.

- The bigfoot was slightly hunched over and was shifting its weight from one foot to the other, like a swaying motion.

- The boys only paused for a few seconds before turning and running the other way. They were very shaken by the experience and never went back to the spot.

About BFRO Investigator Rachel Luffman:

Raised with a love of the outdoors, avid camper & hiker, fascination with the Sasquatch mystery since childhood.

BFRO Expeditions attended:

- Oklahoma 2008
- Missouri Ozarks 2008
- Florida 2009
- Oklahoma (Spring) 2009
- Oklahoma (Fall) 2009
- Missouri Ozarks 2009
- Iowa (Spring) 2010
- Illinois 2010/2011

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