YEAR: 2001

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 15

STATE: California

COUNTY: Tuolumne County

LOCATION DETAILS: My home is located on Nile River Drive, Upper Crystal Falls. Major cross street, Longeway, Middlecamp road.

NEAREST TOWN: Twain Harte, Ca.

NEAREST ROAD: Longeway Road

OBSERVED: May 15th, 2001

My wife and I recently relocated to Sonora from San Jose Ca. I live in the vicinity of Nile River Drive. My back yard is open to the forest before you get to Comstock Ranch. Well my wife and I were just finishing up dinner. The sun had just set and I decided to let my 2 small dogs off the deck and let them run around outside. About 10 minutes while I was at the back of the house, I heard this indescribable scream. I told my wife to let the dogs in as I could hear through an open window the rustling around, one of my dogs was barking...I ran to open the sliding glass door...only one dog made it back in. The other one never came home. I contacted DFG and notified them of the screams that I heard. I still hear them every once in a while coming from the back of my home that leads to the forest. I do not let my dogs outside at night any longer.

ALSO NOTICED: My dog will not make a peep if she hears or smells anything that resenbles that night she was almost dinner. She will act very scared and that is not like her any other time.

OTHER WITNESSES: Wife. My neighbor across the way has heard the same screams.

OTHER STORIES: None that I have heard. DFG said it may have been a mountain lion. I have never heard a moutain lion make noise but it did not sound human.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was a dark night, hardly any moon. It was pleasently warm that evening.

ENVIRONMENT: Heavy pines and ceders, some old oaks, lots of natural follage, side of a mountain, 2 miles from Big Hill Road.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked with the witness by phone. The following details can be added to the report.
--The witness lives very close to the Big Hill activity that occurred during the same time period as Report #3072.
--The witness is a former youth leader, and will be heading to Africa in 2004 to do missionary work.
--The screams occur between 2:00-4:00 am, every couple of months. The last scream heard was in the spring of 2003.
--The witness also hears grunts and “chirp” like noises, as does his neighbor at the “Lazy Z.”
--The witness and his wife sleep with the window partly open, and most of the sounds appear to come from the back of the house.
--Last time the “chirp” sound was heard was three weeks ago.
--There are many old mines in the area where a “bigfoot” could be safe during the winter.
--The area around his property, including 65+ acres of undeveloped land, is very suitable for a large animal to live in.

--This area of Sonora/Twain Harte is generally very quiet during the winter, because many of the homes belong to summer only residents.
--The witness has noted strange footprints in the past, but didn’t investigate further.
--The witness notes that when the strange noises are occurring, the raccoons won’t come up onto the deck to both the trash, and the dogs are very quiet, like they sense something present.
--The witness never did find his dog.

Comment: the investigator has heard these “chirp” noises as well and can not attribute it to a known animal in the Sonora area.

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