YEAR: 2014

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: unknown

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Cowlitz County

LOCATION DETAILS: Heading west on 504, right outside of Toutle.

NEAREST TOWN: Toutle

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 504

OBSERVED: I was near Toutle driving home around midnight. A creature on its hands and knees, furry and brown, was in the middle of the road. This creature was about the size of a 10 year old child and resembled an ape. I swerved to miss the creature, and was stunned about what I just saw. My roommate was with me and confirmed she had seen the same thing. We looked back to see if the creature was still there, and there was nothing. I was a non-believer until this incident.

OTHER WITNESSES: 1 witness, passenger in the car.

OTHER STORIES: Heard of an incident at the National Volcano Monument. Middle of the night, night photographer shooting the stars heard a very loud scream. After the scream followed howls.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around midnight, clear starry night, new moon, comfortable temperature, light breeze.

ENVIRONMENT: surrounded by forestry

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Rebekah Slick:

I spoke with both the driver and passenger (roommate listed) separately by phone. Both were adamant that what they saw that night “looked like a monkey or gorilla”. At one point the driver saw the creature raise it’s arm above it’s head for a moment before lowering it. She described the length of the arm as “long” with long “coarse hair…like a horse’s tail”.

The driver told me that as she realized she was not looking at a known animal in front of them on the bridge, exclaimed aloud in the car “monkeys don’t live here!”. It never ran from their oncoming car but instead held it’s ground crouched in the opposite lane of the long bridge as they passed.




The driver described the creature’s overall hair as “really long” and the color as “light brown” or “brownish gray”. She noted that the gray color that she remembered was on the upper forearm and may have been a result of the car’s headlights. The passenger described the creature several times as “really, really hairy!” and light brown in color.

The driver was focused on driving the car across the bridge and was unable to remember facial features. The passenger described the face as having little to no hair, “large eyes” and a “button nose” that was “short and stubby”.

There have been multiple reports in this area. Crossing this bridge would save you from getting cold and wet if you needed to cross the North Fork of the Toutle River.

About BFRO Investigator Rebekah Slick:

Rebekah grew up on a farm in rural, western Pennsylvania where she spent most of her time observing wildlife in the fields and adjoining forest. Since moving to Washington in 2016, she has been on private expeditions throughout the state. She is a member of Search and Rescue in addition to researching in the Toutle River Valley near Mt. St. Helens.