YEAR: 2021

SEASON: Summer

DATE: 6/10

STATE: Arizona

COUNTY: Apache County

LOCATION DETAILS: Original witness note: "Near dead end rd beside I 40 west"

[Investigator (MM) note: The dead end frontage road is McCarrell Road. It is a few miles west of Chambers, AZ.
The coordinates for where the figure was walking:
35.179152, -109.465490

For the Google Maps link to this location, click here.

NEAREST TOWN: Holbrook

NEAREST ROAD: I 40 west

OBSERVED: Heading west on I-40 today at 0930 my wife and I saw a Bigfoot 100-150 yards from the hwy heading north. It was not running, but walking. It never looked at the hwy. It must have been 7-8 ft tall. It was thick, as in well built !

There was a rock outcropping behind it which made it very visible. There had to be other travelers who saw this also. We got a long look at it. 15-20 seconds. It was west of Houck AZ.
GPS 35.179152, -109.465490
In Apache County, Arizona



We were traveling in a 30 ft motorhome so I couldn’t stop. There was other cars behind me. A red motor coach towing a car. With a woman driving.

I’d like to add that it was like seeing any other type of natural wildlife on the side of the hwy. They are real and I’m a believer now. It’s hard to explain it to even family. I’m 62 years old and have nothing to gain by reporting this, except the fact that they should be documented and protected at all cost. They are truly one of Gods creations.

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: 1 my wife , riding in passenger seat

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Morning, 915-930

ENVIRONMENT: In front of rock hill, desert environment

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Chuck Jacobs:

Investigator Notes (Chuck Jacobs):

I texted witness Bill Weldon. He texted back and later we spoke on the phone for approx 45 minutes. He is very well-spoken and very serious and credible.



He is from Florida. This is his first trip west. He advised that he and his wife Carri both saw the bigfoot. He says it was "about the same distance away as the billboards" along the highway. They watched it for 15-20 seconds as they passed by at highway speed.



There is no doubt whatsoever in their minds as to what it was. He described it as having dark colored hair, and that the lower legs and feet looked lighter colored due to the dust from the dry, reddish-tan soil in the area. He advised that they could actually see dust kick up with each step.

He stated there was steady highway traffic at the time. Due to the bigfoot's proximity to the highway and it's dark color against the light background, there is "NO WAY" that other drivers did not see it.

_____________________________________

Investigator Notes (Matt Moneymaker):

I spoke with Bill Weldon and his wife Carri. They are both very credible. They are now in northern California staying with relatives. They are available to speak with local (AZ) reporters if requested.

This is a very reliable multi-witness daylight sighting. It is neither a hoax nor a misidentification. It is an important report because of the location. The location may indicate an important migration pathway for saquatches in this part of Arizona -- Apache County.

There is also a good chance that tracks from this incident may still be visible there. It would be a good places for Arizona investigators to check out soon, before it rains. Fortunately it doesn't rain much in June in this region.

On the map, Apache County, Arizona, is a long vertical shaped county encompassing more than half of state border with New Mexico. The northern half the county is the Navajo Indian Reservation. The bottom portion of the county is Fort Apache Indian Reservation.



Those two portions are mostly mountainous and very squatchy (lots of tree cover and running water and deer, etc.). In those portions there are lots of sighting reports of sasquatches. In between those two lush mountainous zones is wide open high desert with almost no water. This 100 mile expanse would be inhospitable to sasquatches, but sasquatches would NEED to cross that open expanse to get from one mountainous zone to the other. How would they do it? Which way would they go?

Until now there were no reports in that open stretch of desert. This report is in the middle of that stretch, half way in between the two mountainous zones.

The BFRO web site shows eleven (11) reports for Apache County as of June 2021. Those are the reports which are posted publicly. In the BFRO's internal database there are 51 reports total for Apache County. Most have not been investigated or they are second-hand storeis, etc.

All of the other reports besides this one report are clustered in the two mountainous zones mentioned above:

1) In the North: The Chuska Mountains and connecting terrain around Window Rock. All of this zone is within the vast Navajo Indian Reservation.

2) The South: The Mogollom Rim portion, very roughly between Show-Low and Alpine and the Fort Apache Reservation.



The witnesses in this report are both very certain that the figure was:
a) not a human in dark clothing, nor
b) a human in a bigfoot costume.

It "did not have long flowing body hair". Rather, it was covered with short dark fur. It seemed very natural like a real animal.

Both said it seemed too large to be a human -- very tall and lanky but with very muscular legs. Its arms were swinging as it walked.

The sasquatch did not seem hurried or fleeing from view. Bill's impression was that it was like the pace and movement of a person who is "exhauasted" and walking "in a trance " trying to get somewhere.

Thirty minutes or so before the sighting Bill and Carri had stopped at the "Indian Ruins Indian Store" just before Sanders AZ as you head west on I-40. The store was closed but they let their dogs walk around near the store. One dog is a black labrador. After walking around the black lab had a lot of red dust on its black fur. Bill and Carri said the sasquatch had he same tinge of red dust on the fur of its legs.



Both Bill and Carri say the overall color of fur was not jet black but rather a "dark gray".

They are certain that it was also spotted by others on I-40 because some vehicles ahead of them slowed down as if to get a better look.

The BFRO did not receive any other reports of this incident.

The elevation of the sighting location is roughly 5,800 feet. It is high desert with patches of pinion pine and cedar among boulder outcroppings.

On the day of the incident the temperature ranged from lows in the upper 50's Fahrenheit to highs in the upper 80's Fahrenheit. At 9:30 am the temperature would have been in the mid 70's F. Hence, it was broad daylight but not very hot yet. The sasquatch may have been walking all night from the south and simply continued walking north in daylight before the temperature got too hot.

The area where it was spotted heading north is entering hilly terrain with lots of boulder outcroppings with many cave-like crevices providing shade from the sun.

Also, near where it was seen there is a big stream gully that passes underneath Interstate 40. Thus it was possible this creature could cross the highway in daylight without being seen until it was many yards from the highway.

The stream bed near the highway appears to be very brushy but it likely dry most of the time. The stream has no name but connects to the Puerco River on the other side of highway.

The Puerco River has water flowing through it after rains but it is dry at other times. It flows southwest to Petrified Forest National Park. The National Park has a lot of wildlife including Mule deer, Pronghorn antelope and dozens of different species of mammals.



The closest area with an established history of sightings is 40 miles to the northeast: The Window Rock area of the Navajo Reservation. Twenty miles beyond Window Rock to the north lies the Chuska Mountains on the Arizona / New Mexico border. The Chuska Mountain Range is well known among bigfoot researchers and Navajo Indians as a sighting area.

The culmination of all this information begs particular questions: How far can a sasquatch walk without accessing water? How many miles? How many days can it go without water?

A human would simply not be able to walk across this 100 miles of desert with no water, certainly not in June, even if the person only walks at night.

In Winter, after snow storms, there wouild be patches of snow in shaded spots that would provide water for a migrating animal, but not in June.

Even if a summer rainstorm occurred just prior to this sighting which caused water to run in the Puerco River, there is still 50 miles of desert in between that river and Mogollom Rim zone to the south.

On the one hand this type of high desert terrain would allow a large dark sasquatch to be spotted from a long distance, even from a small aircraft. On the other hand, this sasquatch was probably only passing through the area on its way between the mountain ranges. It probably doesn't pass through very often. That is merely an assumption though.

The accessibility of the location makes it a good place to investigate if you happen to live between Winslow and Gallup, or you'll be passing through there along Interstate 40 (Route 66).

Yes, now would be a good time to get your kicks on Route 66, before it rains. If you have an opportunity please look around the location for tracks, especially where that stream bed passes underneath the hightway.

For the Google Maps link to this report location, click here.

For the Facebook discussion about this report see:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BFRO.group/permalink/10159013606475169/

About BFRO Investigator Chuck Jacobs:

Chuck is a retired fire officer, with an extensive background in firefighting, inspections, investigations, and education. He is also a long-time back country traveler, who has explored some of the most remote areas of the western states by Jeep and camper van. His interest in Bigfoot began many years ago, but he began seriously squatching when he learned about activity in his home area in the Arizona mountains. He has been on numerous trips, both solo and with small groups, and attended the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Arizona Expeditions.