YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Stevens County

LOCATION DETAILS: Four miles north of Springdale-Hunters road on county road (Lessig). On private property about a quarter of a mile from Lessig road. There is a marsh area next to the county road at the bottom of the private property. A dirt access road to the property meets the county road across from the marsh.

NEAREST TOWN: Hunters, WA

NEAREST ROAD: Lessig road, a gravel county road

OBSERVED: My husband and I owned 32 acres in rural Stevens county for almost 10 years. The property had been logged several times but still had a good but not dense, mix of Ponderosa, Larch and Doug fir. We camped there almost year round in a travel trailer while we were building a cabin. We dug and lined a large pond for irrigation which attracted lots of wildlife and had planted a small orchard and garden.

In 2013, I decided to camp for a few days by myself and work on our cabin and garden. It was mid-July and a very hot, dry summer. During the first two days as I walked the 50 yards or so to and from the trailer to the cabin, I felt like I was being watched but chalked it up to the wild animals or birds. The third day, I came out of the cabin to go make lunch and there was a hairy animal standing next to and somewhat leaning on the shed behind the trailer. I thought at first it was a person because it was on two legs and how it seemed to lean on the shed (like a human). It was hard to tell because the shed was in the shadows behind the trailer and the trailer. I yelled “Hey! you’re trespassing! This is private property!!” The animal turned and ran a few steps, dropped to all fours and ran off behind the shed and disappeared. It could have been a black bear but it looked so human-like.

On the third day, after working all day in the cabin, I turned off the radio, closed the door and headed to the trailer to make dinner, eat and retire at about 10 p.m. We always carry guns when we are at our place and I put my rifle on the table when I went to bed. Because it was still hot, I left all the windows open in the trailer that night.

About 2 a.m., I was startled awake by a series of knocks on wood. There were four measured knocks, four different times coming from four different directions. The first set of four knocks sounded very close and could have been about 20 feet away from the trailer. It was a slow knock, knock, knock, knock. There was a pause of about 60-90 seconds before the next set of knocks, which sounded in the opposite direction of the first. It was much further away this time. I couldn’t tell you how far. The third set of knocking was the same cadence but closer and again, from a different direction, maybe 200 yards away. The last set of knocking was the same as the others, from a fourth direction and possibly a 500 yards away. I was wide awake and my heart was pounding. My rifle was on the table and I was so scared I was paralyzed and could barely breathe, afraid I would be heard. I couldn’t even move to get up and get to the table! I laid in bed listening for more noises but must have fallen asleep as the next thing I remember, sun was streaming through the windows, birds were singing and it was 6:30 in the morning!

The next day I went over to my nearest neighbor who had the next lot over and asked him if he had heard anything. He hadn’t but suggested the neighbor down by the county road (a half mile away) might have been hammering. That neighbor hadn’t been seen at his place for more than a month! Then, on August 21, 2017, my husband and I were in Baker City, Oregon to see the eclipse. A small fair was being held in the town park and we were wandering around looking at the crafts, food, etc. We came to a Bigfoot booth and I told the man about my story. He then played a recording he had made in the Cascades a few years back and there in his recording was my exact experience four years earlier! The same number of knocks, the same cadence and spacing.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing.

OTHER WITNESSES: One. Sleeping.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2 a.m. no moon, dark. Hot and dry no clouds.

ENVIRONMENT: Logged area with plenty of Doug fir, Larch and Ponderosa pine. Some Cottonwoods and aspen in the seasonal streams on either side of the property. Also, lots of shrubby understory; nine barks, spirea, serviceberry and snowberry.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Llewellyn:

I talked to the witness by phone.

She saw an upright figure about eight feet tall standing next to the shed about 100 yards away. She watched it for about twenty seconds to see if it would come toward her. When she yelled, it turned and dropped to all fours. It was in dark shadows, so was dark on its front but when it turned it was red-brown on its back. She could see about six inch long hair hanging from its triceps and from the elbow down. She did not see a neck or a nose. She does not remember the head shape. The shoulders were wider than the hips. When it turned, she saw what appeared to be hands but did not see arms swing. When it dropped to all fours, the back was straight or parallel to the ground. It may have been a bear.

The wood knocks made her very scared. They were all sixty to ninety seconds apart. She was so scared, she left the next day. There was no odor. She did not look for tracks. The nearest neighbor is one quarter mile away. She had never heard any hammering or other such noises from the farthest neighbor as the one suggested.

Shortly after they moved the trailer onto the acreage, she found an oily hand print with fingers on the front trailer window. Others were found on the shed windows when she and her husband returned two weeks after the wood knocks. No pictures were taken and she wiped them off wondering who was looking in their windows. The hand prints were larger than either her or her husband's.

They sold the property three years ago so are not aware of any ongoing activity. This report is farther west, but in the general area as report 50039. That report was in September 2015. I found the witness remembers details very well.

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.