YEAR: 1970

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: latter part

STATE: Iowa

COUNTY: Fayette County

LOCATION DETAILS: 1/2mi so. intersection W-33 &Hwy 187 on county road W-33

NEAREST TOWN: Maynard

NEAREST ROAD: 1/2mi so. intersection W-33 &Hwy 187 on county road W-33

OBSERVED: I was riding in rear seat of car with 3 others, all college students. We all lived same house in Fayette. It was a fri. nite,weather called for heavy snow overnite. We all were from same area about 25 miles away,decided to head there for weekend or would be snowed in at Fayette by morning. We headed south in my brothers car, he drove, Carl [R.] in pass seat, Al [B.] in LR,and I in RR.

There was 4 in.snow on road so we were going slow about 20 mph. I was leaning to center of rear seat to see out front. I saw something moving in field up ahead just in headlight range about 200 ft. ahea. It was big and moving towards road. I hollered what the hell is that, and elbowed Al who was sleeping next to me. My brother let off gas, as we rolled on we all watched as the creature never broke stride steped over a fence at least 40 in. high, into a ditch, across the ditch, up onto road shoulder, to center road, to other shoulder, across ditch, over another 40 in. high fence, going into darkness as we passed by. It passed in front of us from right to left,about 50 ft.away when it was center of road.

It was big at least 8 ft tall covered from coned head to feet with dark brown hair. It had barrel shaped body with long arms and legs. It just walked like a human taking long strides and swinging its arms. It crossed at an angle from NW to SE never turning to look at us, so we did not see its face. After passing all were in shock, someone said stop lets go look for it. A big NO!! was the reponse and we went on our way.

OTHER WITNESSES: Ken [O.],driver. Carl [R.], front passenger. Al [B.], LR passenger was asleep. Jerry [O.], RR passenger looking out front. Four witnesses.

OTHER STORIES: YES, I have lived in this same area for 50 years. Only recently have I talked about this much, as I have two others have told me accounts not on your site. One farmer,Verle J., saw big foot print in dirt in cornfield near woods. Harvesting corn at night stopped to unplug corn head on end rows near woods saw print, in fall 1970. Babs W. who lives by west entrance to [Backbone State Park] 5 mi SE of here, pulled into her place saw a bigfoot walking across a field and into the park, in late fall 1979. There was snow on ground. Later she heard screams and howls that scared her horses for several days as this went on. She reported it to a park ranger. He told her she probably saw a bear. She said it was no bear. It walked on two legs and steped over a fence while she watched it.

I also heard a scream in late summer 1965 after dark behind house here in a grove of pine and apple trees. The dogs were
barking, and this horrific scream started very loud and close. High pitched lasting at least 5 seconds, made my hair stand up, dogs stopped barking, probably hid. There were three more screams as it moved off to the east toward woods one mile away.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11:15 PM headlites light snow coming down at 45 degree angle with 5 to 10 mph nw wind about 4 inches snow on road

ENVIRONMENT: It walked out of an open field, crossed road in front of us,went into open field.There is creek just to north about 500 ft.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I spoke with Jerry. He and the others got a good look at it as it crossed the road in front of them.

He mentioned that it happened during the first big snowstorm of the season. That is significant. Many witnesses I've spoken with over the years saw one during the first big snowstorm of the season. These creatures may be moving around more than usual when the first big snow hits. They may have to move to a zone that is better protected from the weather. And perhaps, not coincidentally, it would be more difficult to follow them in these conditions, because the falling snow covers their tracks within a few hours, or even a few minutes, depending on the rate of snowfall. Other factors making these conditions attractive are:
- It's much easier to be very quiet while walking in a heavy snowstorm.
- The fresh snow on the ground and in the air absorbs sound.
- They are also less likely to encounter humans outside in these conditions.

Although the incident happened many years ago, the witness knows another witness who had a sighting about ten years later at an area roughly 6 miles from this location, near Backbone State Park. If there wasn't continuous presence in the area over that period, then at least it was an area that one or more returned to years later. Hence, they may return there at different points in time.

I would venture to guess that Backbone State Park would be the best place in the area to look around for tracks.

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