Report # 48599(Class B) Submitted by witness on Tuesday, May 5, 2015.Family retells documenting a possible mile-long line of tracks north of Yankeetown(Show Printer-friendly Version)
LOCATION DETAILS: 7 - 10 miles north of Yankee Town
NEAREST TOWN: Yankee Town
NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 40 - 19
OBSERVED: My family found a track of footprints on our hunting property. We were able to follow it for over a mile. We casted two prints (a right & left.) We followed the track and found a place where it had gone through a barb wire fence, taking out 5 or 6 posts, and what appeared to be a place where it slept.
We even found swamp cabbage that was eaten and appeared to be discarded.
ALSO NOTICED: It crossed the creeks on the west side next to the foot bridges - not using them.
OTHER WITNESSES: 4 - 5 people
OTHER STORIES: 15 miles north on Cedar Key, hunting camp at night. Loud grunts & deep screams.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: We found it on a Friday, early morning.
ENVIRONMENT: Mixed Swamp. creeks, dry land.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:
On May 29, 2003 The BFRO received the following email:
“I have a buddy in lakeland florida that has a hunting camp in the gulf hammock area of north florida, He is a Business owner in the area and would like to speak to a researcher in the area. He has plaster casts that he made in 91 of a possible bigfoot. He also has access to pictures that his buddy took of the same prints with a yard stick or tape measure beside them. I can put you in touch with him if you have someone interested in looking at them."
The investigator’s contact information was passed to the witness; the BFRO did not hear from him and the report was closed.
On April 12. 2015, the Florida BFRO received this email:
Sunday, April 12, 2015 5:55 PM To: Info@BFROFL.com Subject: Florida print casting
“I have a friend that lives in Lakeland, Florida. He has a print that I have seen. It has dermal ridges and he has agreed to have it looked at. If you know anyone in the area that is qualified to inspect the print. When you reply I will give you the contact information for him.”
I was able to contact the witness and fellow Florida BFRO Investigator Joanna Cuva and I met him at his house. We were able to hear how the casts came about.
Photo of the casts:
He unwrapped the casts that were in newspaper dated March 1991. A toe on one of the casts was broken. He chuckled that he had them tucked in a closet and forgot about them until recently. He admitted that although he owns these casts and saw the track, he still can’t explain what could have made them. He admits he is somewhat skeptic when it comes to Bigfoot, but that is the only thing that could explain the find.
He is a very credible, honest and humble man. These casts are 25 years-old and it is evident that he is not looking for any publicity or notoriety. The family has remained quiet about the find for the usual reasons of criticism and ridicule.
His step–father had a hunting cabin in Levy County on Spring Run for many years. The family spent many weekends hunting there.
On one particular winter weekend in 1991, his step-father went to the cabin to open it up before everyone else arrived. He discovered the prints, drove back to town and used a pay phone to call home to tell them to make sure that they brought a camera with them.
Once the family arrived, they were amazed to see the prints. Someone took photos and another drove back to town to purchase Plaster of Paris. The right print measured 18" long and 8 1/4" wide, the left measured 17 3/4" long and 7 3/4" wide.
The tracks came from the north, walking to the left of a footbridge over the creek. The creek was muddy and they were able to make casts from the prints there. They only took two – one of each foot without considering to make more.
The tracks continued around their cabin and headed southeast. The footprints were not always visible but they were able to follow its trail by following broken branches and trees. It wandered down, then turned east and circled around three other vacant hunting cabins. The owners of these cabins were alerted to the presence of the footprints. The trail turned north again and crossed the creek, once again to the west of another footbridge before heading north and walking through a barbed wire fence breaking at least five posts.
None of the cabins had been broken into. Each cabin had compost piles of garbage and areas where they dumped the remnants of the hunted animals. It appeared the creature had “toured” those areas.
The men scouted the area looking for more evidence and found what appeared to be a bedding area made from palm fronds. Near there they discovered several palms that had been pulled up with the hearts eaten. This was in an area they referred to as “Tangerine Island”; it had a tangerine tree on it and was high, dry ground surrounded by a wet marsh.
Video footage the witnesses filmed about a week after the original discovery is included in the following video. The family has additional photographs that will be added at a later time.
The witness claims that hunting was always very good in the area, and they never experienced anything unusual except for the footprint discovery.
The family did not have a set schedule for visiting the cabin so they find it very unlikely “someone” did this as a joke because of the effort and timing.
The step-father’s name was Bill, and the family requests that in his honor the casts be referred to as “Bill’s Spring Run Casts".
About BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:
Re Monteith has had a life-long interest in Bigfoot and has an extensive background in outdoor land and ocean survival as well as mountaineering. She has tran-sailed the Atlantic, backpacked in remote places throughout the world and has climbed three of the seven summits. She studied International Relations at Florida International University, and is a Financial and Real Estate Consultant. She has participated in many private expeditions as well as the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 BFRO North Florida Expeditions and the 2013 BFRO UP Michigan & Alabama Expedition. She also organized Florida's 2017 Town Hall Meeting. She was an Executive Producer of the documentary film, "Skunk Ape Lives" and featured as a Crypto Expert on The Science Channel's television show, Strange Evidence for seasons 2 - 5.
