YEAR: early 2000

SEASON: Winter

DATE: 1/1/2000

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Orange County

LOCATION DETAILS: Waterford Lakes, Orlando Fl 32828

NEAREST TOWN: Orlando

NEAREST ROAD: Colonial

OBSERVED: After watching several episodes of your show on Animal Planet, I decided to tell my story; I am actually getting goose bumps thinking of it. This happened in Orlando, Florida around the early 2000’s, we lived in a suburban area but around it has a heavy forest area and this was before any of the major shopping centers and housing were built. My cousin had come up for the weekend from Miami to hang out, we were probably in our second year of high school. I remember it was around 2am to 4am and we were driving home and before our entrance to our neighborhood there is a small lake with a patch of forest in the middle of it, and across from it there is the neighborhood playground and a daycare which was pretty dark at that time so my cousin decides to pull in by the playground to smoke a cigarette. So the lake was across from us and the car’s front was facing the playground, I stayed in the car and my cousin was leaning on his side of the car. After a bit my cousin starts frantically trying to open his door which I don’t know if it got locked and he left the keys in the ignition or the door doesn’t open from his side, so I look in the rear view mirror and there standing is this huge dark figure ( here comes the goose bumps again) standing there, in the dim light you can see the fur texture and the muscles, so I turn around and look through the window and I see it just standing there like if it was shocked to see us there and I remember as soon as I opened the door and my cousin started the car it took off to the right and we hauled butt to the left towards our neighborhood. When we got to the entrance of our neighborhood we decided to go back towards where it was heading and of course we couldn’t find no trace. I can still picture the figure plainly and right now I feel the tingling of goose bumps as I am thinking of it. We didn’t tell anybody about the incident and being that young we wouldn’t think people will believe us anyway, its just crazy our something like that can stay planted in your mind after so long so clearly, but I just wanted to let you guys know my story, keep up the awesome work with the show and the research.

ALSO NOTICED: How it stood there in shock to see us

OTHER WITNESSES: 2 Cousin and Me

OTHER STORIES: Didn't really research it being that young and this was before our house had a computer or internet

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Night 2am-4am, summer time so very hot, very dim light

ENVIRONMENT: Heavy forest but now has been destroyed due to housing and shopping

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Joanna Cuva:

I spoke with this witness whom is now in his late 20’s. He stated that the bipedal creature was standing on the wood line and then proceeded to take a step forward before they were able to take off in their car. They then decided to turn the car around to see if it was still there but there was no sign of it when they returned.

The witness stated that the area had a pond with a running trail around it which was lit with light poles. He was able to do a size comparison with a gazebo that was close to where the animal had appeared and it was at least as tall as the roof line of the gazebo. He was unable to describe any facial features but was able to see the texture of the hair, dark in color. He also said that the patch of woods there was small but there were larger, heavily forested areas close by. At this time the area was rural but is built up now. I did not do a field investigation for this reason. This incident happened 10 + years ago.

I did ask the witness if I could speak with the cousin but he said that he is no longer in contact with him. He then said that they do have a family wedding in June 2012 and that they would both be attending. He would speak to him then and try to get him to contact us to further authenticate the experience.

This witness had a life altering experience that to this day gives him goose bumps when he recalls the experience even though it took place in early 2000. This area is extremely built up now but then it was adjacent to the even larger vast area between Titusville and Orlando area.

The witness submitted this map of the location layout that he made and will send us some photos the next time he is in the area.

About BFRO Investigator Joanna Cuva:

Joanna AKA Joee, has worked as a veterinarian technician for over 11 years. She lives in the Green Swamp of central Florida area with her husband and her three children. She is very knowledgeable of the local wildlife, spending a lot of her time in the outdoors. Joanna has a special interest in wildlife and conservation. She attended South Florida Expedition 2008, North Florida Expedition 2009, Central Florida Expedition 2009, Pennsylvania Expedition 2009, Georgia Expedition 2010 and assisted with the organization of several Florida expeditions.

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