YEAR: 2000

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 22

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Duval County

LOCATION DETAILS: Off I-95. The area sits between Southside Blvd. to the west. J.Turner Butler Blvd. to the north. Gate Parkway to the east and 9-A St. Johns Bluff Road to south.

NEAREST TOWN: Jacksonville

NEAREST ROAD: Southside Blvd.

OBSERVED: I am a security officer in Jacksonville, FL. I was on duty in an area know as Deerwood Park. Located in a quickly developing area that was once owned by Skinners Dairy. The area is still heavily wooded. Two weeks ago I was on duty in a building and went outside to smoke a cigarette. I was outside for 5 minutes. I heard a noise like something moving through the tree line. I turned my head toward the noise and the noise stopped. I called on of our vehicle patrols in the area and we moved to the tree line to investigate. We could hear the movement of something very large making very suttle movement. The officer with me and myself felt very uneasy. Laying on the ground 8-10 feet from the tree line was a branch from a pine tree. The needles on the branch were still green.There were no burn marks at the break to indicate lightning had struck. The branch was approximatly 3 inches in diameter and appears to have been broken and then ripped from the tree.What ever it was,sounded
as though it moved away from us through the marsh land. This whole incident really creeped me out.On Fri/9-1-00 at about the same time 2:30A.M. The same patrol officer and myself were again standing outside the building I guard. We heard a sonic alarm coming from the building to the north of our location. The patrol officer I was talking to walked back to his car to drive over and investigate. The alarm stopped as though it reset or was deactivated. I informed the patrol officer that it was probably the cleaning crew. As we continued talking about what we were going to do in the gym that mourning. The officer I was talking to turned his head and his eyes got real big. He replyed." Look at that". I turned around and looked toward the tree line and observed nothing. The patrol officer I was talking to sped off in his vehicle in the direction of the trees and I followed on foot. We searched the area and found nothing. The officer told me that he observed heavly built individual who's estimated height was between 7-8 feet in height. The individual appeared all black. The officer I was talking to said when he told me to look, the subject had crossed out of my line of site around another building 100 feet to the south of our location. This officer appeared to be very serious about what he saw. On Sun/9-3-00. I was talking to the other officer who works the same area. He told me of a resident he talked to six months ago,who lives 1 mile to the east of my post. This resident inquired if we did foot patrols through his community? Which was at the time was sparsley populated. When the officer said, "no". The resident continued that a few nights before around dusk he heard a splash in the lake behind his house. What he saw climb out of the lake and walk toward the south and into the trees was exactly what the other officer told me he saw. The resident further stated that this was a regular occurance.

OTHER WITNESSES: 4

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Night

ENVIRONMENT: Old Dairy Farm--now houses going up. Wooded

Follow-up investigation report:

Assisted by Investigator: Dave Sidotti

On Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 Investigators Stocking and Sidotti travelled to the area. The following are the events which occurred during Aug. 22, 2000 and Sept. 15, 2000. There are a total of 4 witnesses:
S.G. ,M.C., M.L., and H.W.

Aug. 22: S.G. heard movement in the woods while standing outside one building have a break. He radioed for another officer to join him. They both moved to the tree line to investigate. They heard the movement of something large moving throught he underbrush. This is when they found the tree limb on the ground.
NOTE: I looked at all the trees near the limb and could not find evidence that the limb had come from any of these trees.

Sept. 1: S.G. and M.G. were one break outside one of the buildings they patrol (2:30 am) when M.C. saw an individual approx. 8 feet tall walking at the tree line. The creature walked along the tree line, went between two buildings, and exited into adjoining woods. M.C. jumped in his car to pursue it, but lost sight after it went between the buildings.
The creature, per witnesses description, looked like a tall, well proportioned human. It was walking on two legs, at a good stride, with a smooth, rhythmic walk. The arms were swinging.

Sept. 6: M.L. was on patrol in his car (2 am) when he stopped a man driving his car in a restricted area known as Limerock Trail. While talking to the man informing him that he would have to leave (the man was apparently scouting for deer), both men heard a loud growl coming from the tall reeds next to the tree line. The reeds were approx. 50 ft. away from them. M.L. described the sound as "sounding like a growl a bear would make, but it definitely wasn't a bear". The growl was very load, and sounded as if it was from "a big set of lungs to project that sound". The growl was sustained for approximately 30 seconds. The reeds where the sound came from are 7-8 feet tall. That morning (6 am) S.G. and M.C. went to this location to investigate. They did not hear anything, but they found an area of small trees which looked to be pushed over.
NOTE: I looked at the trees in question. Some had the appearance of being broken off 12-15 inches off the ground. These trees were anywhere from 3 to 6 inches in dia.
Bark was scraped off in some places. There was no evidence of any heavy equipment in the area where the trees were found.

Sept. 10: M.C. and H.W were patrolling the housing development under construction at 2:30 am. They were on a piece of private property behind the development walking down a dirt drive when they saw a pair of eyes approx. 6 feet off the ground. They both decided to advance towards them when another pair of eyes "stepped out from the trees behind the first". The distance from them to the eyes was roughly 75 feet. The eyes had an orange/red reflection.
At this point both men decided to retreat from the area.
NOTE: While there, I spoke with the caretaker of this property. It has horses on the property. I specifically asked if the horses are left out at night to graze, the caretaker informed me that the horses are always barned up at night. They would not have been out any night. This private property is 90 acres of woods with cypress, pines, and oak hammocks interspread throughout. There is a stream running through most of the property.

Sept. 15: H.W. and M.C. were walking the Limerock Trail at approx. 6:30 am. They found a trackway of footprints walking up the trail and then turning around and returning back down the trail and then into the woods.
NOTE: I viewed these tracks. They appeared to be several days old. Measurement of the tracks were 12" x 4 1/2"
The tracks are inconclusive.

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