YEAR: 2017

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 17

STATE: Idaho

COUNTY: Oneida County

LOCATION DETAILS: A few miles south from Malad City, Idaho on I-15 is a rest stop the "Cherry Creek" rest stop on the mountain side of the freeway.
My report is from that rest stop

NEAREST TOWN: Malad City, Idaho

NEAREST ROAD: I-15

OBSERVED: While traveling from Herriman UT to Rexburg Idaho, I stopped for the night at the Cherry Creek rest stop off I-15 just before Malad Idaho. I parked in the "Truck" area as close to the mountain and as far from the restrooms as I could.

I fell asleep in my pickup camper shell approximately 10:00 pm
At 11:00 pm something woke me up, I sat up and looked around and saw nothing out of order, I could see very well due to the rest stop lights, I saw one big rig parked in the truck area and no cars at all. The truck may have awakened me when he pulled in. I laid back down and few minutes later I heard brush breaking a couple of hundred yards up the hill, I thought it must be a bear or an elk. Ignoring the breaking brush I tried to go back to sleep then while still awake I heard a clear distinctive wood knock, very clear like a bat on an oak tree. I listened for another half hour or so and heard occasional brush breaking, I then fell asleep.

I was then awakened at approximately 3:00 am by breaking brush that sounded much closer than before, followed by one clear knock from uphill and north of me 10 seconds or so later another clear knock further up the hill but to the south (two separate locations)
I got up a little freaked out and drove north to Malad, Idaho

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: Just me

OTHER STORIES: No I inquired the next day in Malad and the restaurant staff had not heard of any current reports.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11:00 pm and again 3:00 am

ENVIRONMENT: Rest stop by freeway, next to a steep mountain hardwood forest (lightly forested)
"Cherry Creek Rest Stop"

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Llewellyn:

I talked to the witness by phone.

He was sleeping under his pickup canopy with the windows open.

At 11:00 pm, when he first heard brush breaking, he thought it was a large animal such as an elk making crunching sounds as it walked. The knock was very clear and sounded like a bat hitting a telephone pole or tree.

At around 3 am, he heard brush breaking and single wood knocks in two different locations. He thought one was maybe 150 yards away. He said, "I thought about it too much, for fifteen minutes, and then left." He did not hear any vocalizations.

The witness is not aware of any caves nearby, but there is a huge rimrock above on the steep mountain. This rest area is on the edge of Caribou National Forest. There is farm land on the west side of I-15. The witness does not know of any orchards, just different crops.

The witness is an avid hunter and spends much time in the woods. Thirty years earlier, he heard two knocks early in the morning that sounded the same as in this report. I find him very credible.

About BFRO Investigator Kevin Llewellyn:

Kevin has camped, fished and hunted in Eastern Washington all his life. His interest in Sasquatch began when he was 10 years old and saw Roger Patterson present "the" film. He lives in Eastern Washington.

Recently retired, he was a veterinarian since 1984, after graduating from Washington State University.

He attended Washington BFRO expeditions in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Oregon in 2015 and 2018, Montana in 2017 and 2018. He was co-leader of N.E. Washington 2019, Washington 2020, 2021 #1 & #2, and Montana 2020, 2021expeditions.