YEAR: 1974-1976

SEASON: Summer

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Jefferson County

LOCATION DETAILS: There's a big lake across the dirt road from where this old dump used to be. The back side of that lake is a bad swamp.

NEAREST TOWN: Waukeena east of Tallahassee

NEAREST ROAD: U.S. 27

OBSERVED: I have been interested in this for years because in my family it was taken as fact for most of my life. The reason for this was an incident that happened in the early seventies, 1974, I believe. It happened just west of Waukeena Florida off the old St. Augustine road, a dirt road that parallels U.S. 27. My grandmother (now deceased), my mother, my younger sister and supposedly me (though for some reason I swear I don't remember it at all) were at a place where people dumped trash. We had thrown some stuff away and were looking at some things that others had tossed. My mother is 80 and still remembers this vividly and so does my sister. My sister says it was a Bigfoot! My Mom tells the story that it was a "big ole hairy hippie!" More like a man than an ape. When she was alive my grandma had a similar story. My Mom says it was a great big man (when I ask how big it was she says WAY bigger than you are...I'm 6'4" 320lbs) who was all the way naked (she says you could see it was male) and didn't have shoes or anything else on. He was hairy all over with tangled reddish brown hair. This happened in full daylight with the creature approaching us from the wood line in an aggressive manner (grunting and making sounds) at a fairly close distance. Everyone retreated to my Grandma's old Chevy and by the time we got moving we were face to face at smelling distance. My Mom and Sis say it smelled like rotten eggs or meat or something really unforgettably bad. I wanted to tell this story because my mom is 80 years old and I want her side of this to be told. She says it was a man, maybe somebody who is crazy or something. She is an old Hillbilly and has no modern frame of reference. I wish I could remember this event directly myself but can't. My sister who's 18 months younger than me recalls it perfectly and they both say I was there.

OTHER WITNESSES: my Grandma (deceased) Mom, sister Elizabeth and my dad (deceased) for the second incident.

OTHER STORIES: Another incident also occurred near that area that I DO recall. It was 1976, fall. My Dad and I were coon hunting on private land in the middle of the night. We had 2 bulldogs with us that were known to be fearless. They would hunt coons and catch hogs and were formidable. We went into this field and drove around the edge of the trees. In the back corner of the field was a draw...the terrain dropped off into swamp and thick oak woods. We got out of the truck and my dad hit the side of the truck and said "git 'em" and this was the only time anyone ever saw these dogs NOT tear off into the woods. This was very significant because these dogs were greatly admired for their courage! The dogs refused to leave our sides! We walked out into the woods a little with them and they were whimpering and whining and stayed right behind us. My dad speculated that there must have been a bear or panther in the woods. That's when we smelled it and heard something big moving off down the draw! Flashlights in those days were not so great so we never saw it but it sure stank! We said it was a skunk ape. This all happened less than 2 miles ,as the crow flies, from where the other sighting occurred. On the north side of U.S. 27 west of Waukeena.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: middle of the day, bright, clear summer day.

ENVIRONMENT: Oak woods, swamps, thick north Florida woods.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Bakara:

I spoke with the witness' sister who remembers the incident vividly. The family used to take their garbage to a large, communal dumping area outside of town, as there was no garbage pickup in the town. The area was wooded with trees on all sides and a creek just a few yards away. A lake was across the road. It was just before dusk, and they had just finished unloading. As they were standing there, they heard a growl in the woods. Not sure what it was, they hesitated a moment, and heard it again. As they stood there looking in the direction of the growl, at a distance of about 70 feet, a large, hairy animal pushed its way out of the woods, and started its way toward the family. The witness described it as appx 7 1/2 to 8 feet tall, powerfully built, and covered in distinctly, reddish brown hair. The whole time it was observed, it was standing on two strong legs, like a man. As it got closer they noticed it had a very unpleasant smell to it. She was taken by the mostly red tint to the hair. It came quickly, but it wasn't running, and was making odd grunting sounds as it approached. It was only 30 feet away at its closest point, so she got a good look at it. She now feels that it was protecting something, though she didn't know what. The family turned and ran for the car. Their fear was stronger than their curiosity, so no one looked back to see if the animal was chasing them to the car. They sped away and did not encounter the creature on the way out.

The grandmother has since passed away, and I was not able to speak with the mother.

About BFRO Investigator David Bakara:

David has three daughters and a wife that shares his interest in research, both having developed a deep respect for nature and knowledge of the outdoors and wildlife. Attended Northern Florida Expedition 2011, 2012 Washington Exp., and 2012 North Florida exp. Prior US Navy and currently works as a Leasing Agent, spending his time off in the woods as often as he can investigating Bigfoot reports.

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