YEAR: 1976

SEASON: Winter

DATE: January

STATE: Kansas

COUNTY: Leavenworth County

LOCATION DETAILS: The tracks were found in the refuge area along the river. The sighting was along the river near the building (cac).

NEAREST TOWN: Leavenworth / Kansas City

OBSERVED: I was stationed at Ft. Leavenworth in 1976, I was assigned to the 205th Military Police Unit. One of our duties was to guard the CAC building at the fort. This is the most important building on base. It is what we called the Comand Staff War School. It was guarded 24/7 everyone in had to sign in and out. NO EXCEPTIONS this was a very serious detail. Personally I hated it. I found myself on duty at the CAC with another MP we called JJ he told me about how an MP Officer had seen some big hairy thing along the river banks just a few days earlier, The officer was scared spitless according to JJ's story. He went on to say that this thing had been seen several times over the last few years and it's got everybody pretty spooked. The Officer in Question made a formal report about his experiance. His career was over shortly after that, The military keeps records on everthing including this one. The river runs along the entire east side of this installation and it is really thick flooded timber and lowlands. You could hide a herd of elephants in there for years and no one would ever know. I never saw this thing but we did see foot prints one evening down along the river. I was impressed with the size of these things, They were 14-16 long but it was the width that was really shocking, 6-7in. wide. It was almost like a snow shoe at the ball of the foot, It was in fresh snow and back in the heavy stuff where no one would have gone to play games. We were sent there to search for a runaway dependent. (Some Officers daughter that had gone to Kansas City with her boy friend as it turned out.) Like I said these prints were big. It was never officially reported because of the recent short term career matter mentioned earlier. If you see one of these things and report it you are history, Period. Check it out you will find several old by now I'm sure reports of strange beings around Ft.Leavenworth. Good luck in finding this thing, It does exist. NO DOUBT!

ALSO NOTICED: Several other MP's reported loud banging on doors and trash dumpsters @ the CAC building like some one was looking for food in the dumpsters and letting the tops slam down. I can tell you that very few of us ever went to see what it was even though we were armed with 45's. We felt that it was best left alone. One time JJ heard a low growling gurgling sound while on patrol outside of the CAC he was scared and ran like the wind into the foyer where I was at the duty desk. This was at 9-10 pm.

OTHER WITNESSES: During the search for the dependant there were several. No one was willing to offically discuss the foot prints. The sighting involved the Officer and One enlisted man, Name unknown but on the report.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: My experiance was in the late afternoon early evening. The Officer in Question was during the Early Evening hours.

ENVIRONMENT: Heavily wooded area, river bottom area that extends well over a mile from the actual river. Lots of bluffs and limestone cliffs etc. Very rugged area, Thick vegitation little or no human activity in the refuge area, Bird Hunters and deer hunters seldom went more than 100 yards from the road due to the thickness of the area

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone.

He and another MP followed the tracks a short distance but started smelling a stench described as being fresh garbage. It was decided to not pursue it any further.

The witness had more or less forgotten about the incident until watching an episode of Mysterious Encounters on the OLN.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net