YEAR: 2024

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: 28th

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Richland County

LOCATION DETAILS: 40.700657,-82.492935

https://goo.gl/maps/3s1HJVLtsqnbno8K8

NEAREST TOWN: New Washington Ohio/Mansfield Ohio

NEAREST ROAD: Near Woodville Rd and Hanley Rd

OBSERVED: Me (Andrew Baum) 35 and my step dad Shawn (50s) are both from Mansfield Ohio. We went out to setup a tree stand around 3pm-3:30pm. By the time we got it all set up it was still light but right before it starts to get dark around 4pm. I climbed up after my stepdad tried it out. He said you can see everything from up there because mostly all the trees have no leaves. You can see fields and everything all around tree lines and fields even a highway out past that.

I got up there, sat down and looked out over the first field to where it ends at a tree line. Then I scanned the next field and saw it. I say "it" because it was a bigfoot or a very big person fast moving across the wide open field. It had fast big steps, not running but still covering ground faster than someone should. It seemed very odd. I had no phone or equipment with me at that moment because I was just up there I see what the view will be. I was looking only with eyes.

It was dark in color. I'd say black or even dark brown. From that distance [~1,000 feet] it is hard to tell the exact color. The dark figure was very noticeable because it was moving across the light color of the wheat stubble field. That is what caught my attention. I was looking for deer and saw that thing, and I almost freaked out.

I got off the stand to tell my step dad. By the time he climbed up there, it was out of sight. The view angle was blocked as it moved toward a tree line.

I went back up and got down after a bit. I looked around at tons of deer tracks, deer trails, deer scat, tons of recently used bedding areas. It is a deer hot spot. The land is all privately owned. We're using a small section off Hanley Road.

I was thinking about it all the way to the truck. It was definitely something big and fast. Similar to other stories I heard in the past around here.

I marked on my google maps the area of my sighting and have he coordinates 40.700657,-82.492935 https://goo.gl/maps/3s1HJVLtsqnbno8K8

ALSO NOTICED: One little spot in our patch of woods is a tree break that looked like out of place not from a person or deer

OTHER WITNESSES: Just me but my stepdad saw my reaction and tried to climb up the stand to see but it wasn't in time

OTHER STORIES: Not this exact area but within Richland county, yes. Down by Cook Road woods area, a neighborhood friend said he had an experience in that area and we never really believed it but this kind of makes it make much more sense.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Evening time it gets darker in Ohio this time of the year. First pretty decent temperature day all week after a lil rain the days before. So we went out to set on a tree stand around 3pm-3:30pm by the time we got it all set up it was still light but right before it starts to get dark around 4pm. I went up after my stepdad tried it out said you can see a lot from up there, because the trees have no leaves.

ENVIRONMENT: Fields of farmland, patches of woods of all sizes, then more fields. Not to far away from a major highway -- 71. Few houses in the area, a farm nearby but mostly woods and fields.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Brian DeyErmand:

Notes from Matt Moneymaker:

I and Ohio BFRO Investigator Brain DeyErmand spoke with witness Andrews Baum by phone. His step dad could be heard in the background.

We concluded that he is credible, and the report is legitimate. The question in this case is whether it was a misinterpretation, specially whether it was a human walking across the field rather than a sasquatch.

Andrew's perception that it was a sasquatch rather than a human he was seeing at that distance, was due to the speed that it moved across the field. Andrew observed a walking pace of brisk strides rather than a full out run. Andrew knew a human would need to be running at top speed across to cover the same distance so fast. He could tell that it had to be very tall and taking long strides.

That is a distinguishing feature of what a sasquatch will look like from a distance. Not only will it be big and dark, but it will cover ground much more quickly than a human.

The speed at which the figure crossed the field eliminates the possibility of a human, in my opinion as well. Even if the dark bipedal figure was 1,000 away (so that fur texture won't be clearly visible) it is still a Class A sighting rather than a Class B (which a possible sighting, but less certain than Class A) because all other reasonable alternatives have been eliminated.





































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Notes from Brian DeyErmand:

Following the interview conducted by Matt Moneymaker on 12/31/2024, I scheduled a time to meet with the witness at the location. Because of the New Years holiday, that could not be done until January 2nd. A weather front was moving in and I wanted to search for sign before the snow hit so I went to the site on 12/31 to knock on doors and get permission to investigate.

On 12/31 I went to the site and spoke with the property owner. I received permission to walk the field where the sighting took place. This was a corn field used for livestock feed. The corn was already harvested and the stalks were pushed down leaving ideal bait for deer.





It was raining and a fairly large storm had come through the night before so visibility was poor. I saw multiple deer prints and a single coyote print along the tree line where witness lost sight of the subject.

There was a lot of vegetation to walk on so finding a print in the field in the rain was difficult. Impressions were also difficult to leave with the vegetation being so thick on the ground.

I found a trail cam and deer stand pointed into the field at the break in the treeline where the witness lost sight of the subject. According to the witness' map, this camera would be pointed in the wrong direction to capture the subject.

The property owner reported no loss of livestock or anything strange happening over the weekend.

In the middle of the field and essentially where the witness says the visual began there was a break in the crop with long grass and some stray wheat all matted down. The photo below shows the ground generally where the figure would have walked. It is not conducive to clear footprints.





On January 2nd I met with the witness, Andrew, and his stepfather at the location of witness' tree stand. Visibility was poor. It was overcast with light blowing snow and it was difficult to replicate the view the witness had on 12/28.





My impression of Andrew is that he is very earnest and credible, as was his step father (who did not see the subject).

They showed me a partial tree twist that was fresh directly in front of the stand they were setting up in the 28th, the day of the sighting.









I failed to see a reason for the damage to the tree. The rest of the area contained a number of limbs and branches stacked or leaning on trees. That said, there is a lot of human activity here with multiple tree stands. It seems an excellent place to deer hunt.

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