YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Summit County

LOCATION DETAILS: Withheld at witness' request.

NEAREST TOWN: Richfield

OBSERVED: The sun was setting,another 15-20 minutes until it would be dark. My one dog began to raise a fuss along my property line. My other dog joined up and began to cower away and back to me. I saw what I first took to be two really big and tall dudes. One was looking straight ahead in the direction they were traveling (east), the second one was a little shorter but literally walking on the heels of the first one. The sun was highlighting the back of their heads. The first one was kind of mustard colored but the back of his head was highlighted to a golden glow. The 2nd one with head bent down looked to be a dark brown, but the setting sun highlighted the back of its head to a brilliant red/brown. As they were sideways to me, their profile was not quite distinguishable other than I could tell that a small amount of their facial features was flesh while the rest of their heads were 85-90% covered in hair. My one dog was now passing me and climbed up the deck to the patio doors clearly conveying she wanted in. My other dog was following the fence line barking, while moving parallel with them. They took no notice of my dog. I stepped out away from my planting and this innocuous movement caused them to disappear straight down into the heavy grass/foliage. I approached my property line while my dog kept moving down the line still barking at where they would have walked if they had continued. By now, I knew I had finally seen my "Buddies" as I have lived here for 34 years and have had numerous indirect encounters.
The one thing that has me a bit confused is, I saw the wild grass that stands about 8' tall was only up to their shoulder/armpit area. Making them to be approximately 9' tall...? The second thing that has me wondering is why the second one was so carefully stepping behind the first one, looking down...but so close to the first ones back that there was very little space between these two. (?) Granted, I was about 150' away from them, but it sure looked exactly like I have described. I called my dog back from following them as I live on 10 acres of heavy woods. In the past I have had two big dogs "disappear" from off of my fenced in property.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself and my two dogs. I was in my back yard planting flowers.

OTHER STORIES: Yes. Plenty. However, all "hearsay". I merely wish to keep them protected. They don't bother us and we don't bother them.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Approx. 6:30 - 7:00 pm
Clear spring evening, sun was setting.

ENVIRONMENT: Abandoned road, closed off and torn out in the CVNRA (Cuyahoga Valley National Park - CONSERVATION district). Praire like IN the abandoned road, lined on N. and S. side by heavy thicket, brush and leading into mature woods.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Mark Maisel:

A site investigation was conducted with another BFRO investigator on June 25th 2013. The following can be added to this report.

The other investigator and I walked the perimeter of the property. Her property is heavily wooded with several paths traversing the area. The area of the sighting was about two hundred feet from the witness. She was planting flowers in a back flower bed when one of her dogs alerted her attention back to the right. When she looked she could see two animals walking single file, very closely to each other. Upon examining this area, the grass that was mentioned is only about six feet tall. The height estimate must be lowered because of this. The probable height of the larger animal was closer to eight feet tall with the other closer to seven.

The animals made no noise as they walked and did not pay attention to the dog that was following the fence line. It was not until the witness looked to the right that the animals seemed to notice. At this point they went into the woodline on the opposite side of the trail. Both sides of the trail were examined and nothing of note could be found. The other question would be is the color of the first animal. As the sun was setting and shining on the back of the head, the only thing that can be determined is that it was lighter in color than the first. When asked if there was any other features that she could describe, the witness responded that the face was flat. Seeing them in profile through some trees and grass did not lend itself to further details. She did state that they were "Big". This whole episode of the sighting lasted less than five seconds.

The area looks to be a pass through area. There is a larger apple orchard to the south. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is further to the east. The area is populated with small farms and ponds. Deer sign was found in abundance.

About BFRO Investigator Mark Maisel:

Mark Maisel is employed in the medical field in Ohio. He has attended the following expeditions: West Virginia, New York Adirondacks, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. Expedition organizer of the 2009 Ohio expedition and assisting with both of Eastern Ohio's in 2012 and Michigan UP 2012. Attended WV 2013

• Explanation of the report classification system
• Submit a report for the sightings database
• Please send any comments or inquiries to ContactUs@BFRO.net