Class 1c Encounter Report in Deville, LA, Case #04080017

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Class 1a
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
Class 1b
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
Class 1c
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 1d
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 2
Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.
2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
Class 3a
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3b
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3c
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.


Case: 04080017

Class 1c

Logger has two encounters over three day period.

Report Details

Occurrence date: August/2000
Location: Rapides Parish County, LA
Nearby/Vicinity: Deville
Time / Conditions: 08:00 — First sighting very sunny & second sighting ,sunrise with some light fog. Temperatures that week were in the mid to high 90s.Very Humid
# of Witnesses: 2

Witness Account:
Encounters told to me by Logger Earl Whitstine.
Sighting one occurred on Tuesday August 22, 2000 around 1300hrs. Mr. Whitstine stated he was operating his cutter, which resembles a skidder in that the only difference basically is one has huge shear type cutters and the other has a holder. Whitstine was approaching some fallen trees when he saw what appeared at the time to be the rear end of a horse. Thinking this was a nearby resident's horse, he rattled the cutters in an attempt to scare it away, but as he rattled the cutters the object turned and stood up. It was at this time he realized that he was not looking at a horse but a large bipedal creature. He noticed that it was covered from head to toe in thick, long, jet black hair. The hair around the face was also long and he couldn't make out any facial features. The creature turned and began to head for a nearby logging road that ran parallel to Flaggon creek. Whitstine then began to follow in the cutter, and as he got nearer to the creature it turned and jumped into the creek (bayou) and began to try to swim to the other side. Whitstine stated it looked like it couldn't swim very well as it "kept bobbing up and down trying to keep its head out of the water, but would occasionally go underwater." After reaching the other side, the creature stopped and looked back then fled into the adjoining woods. Whitstine called his boss who thought he was joking and brushed it off. Whitstine also told fellow loggers who also poked fun at him. Whitstine stated that he got as close as maybe twenty feet.

Encounter number two occurred on Thursday August 24, 2000 around 0700-0730hrs while surveying a property line with another logger. As they walked the line they came upon the creature again alongside a drying bayou (Boggy Bayou). They came within eighty feet (measured during the investigation) of the creature as it stood looking at them from beside a large bush. He yelled out to it "Hey, what are you doing?" The creature then fled north away from Whitstine and the other logger. Whitstine then called his boss and the property owner. The land owner notified Wildlife and Fisheries, the Rapides Parish Sheriffs Office, along with the local paper and tv station.

Sighting around the week of July 4, 2000. Fisherman sees a large, smelly, bipedal creature carrying a hog less than a quarter mile from August sightings.

Physical evidence:
Casted 3 tracks

Hand/foot prints:
casted tracks number four (left), number thirteen (right), and number fourteen (left). I also received black hairs from a log the creature had been next to.I found between track number eight and track number nine a distance of seven feet.The tracks measured 14.5 inches in length, heel width was four inches, and the ball of the foot was seven inches wide. The tracks also had only four toes. The tracks were a maximum of two inches deep into the muddy areas. The measured stride from left heel to right heel was three feet five inches, and the left heel to left heel measurement was six feet six inches

Sounds:
None Noted

Additional observations:
None Noted

Investigator's Observations

Investigator(s): Scott Kessler

This investigation was conducted as a result of incidents that allegedly occurred in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, in 2000.

I was contacted around 13:30 hours by the landowner who said she had sixteen tracks in the mud of a possible bigfoot that a logger had seen, as well as some hair. I advised her to cover the tracks with something to protect them from being damaged in the possible rain that was forecast for that day.

I arrived around 15:30 hours that afternoon and began investigating the site. The Rapides Sheriff's Department and the Wildlife and Fisheries had already been there. The RPSO had already taken a track cast of track number seven (right).

What I found were sixteen tracks that traveled forty-seven feet southeast. I casted tracks number four (left), number thirteen (right), and number fourteen (left). I also received black hairs from a log the subject had been next to.

I returned on Friday the 25th around 08:00 hours and continued my investigation. I measured the distance from the first track to the last track again. I also measured the distance between each track. I found between track number eight and track number nine a distance of seven feet.

There was hard ground between these tracks. I also made a detailed drawing of the area showing all measurements and directions of travel. I noticed that in a couple of the tracks it appeared the subject had used its toes to push off in the mud. I interviewed both witnesses several times and found no deviation from the original telling. Several photographs were made of the area as well as of the casts and hair samples. The hair was sent out to be analyzed and was determined to be bovine (livestock) hairs, which are not uncommon in the area.

The tracks measured 14.5 inches in length, heel width was four inches, and the ball of the foot was seven inches wide. The tracks also had only four toes. The tracks were a maximum of two inches deep into the muddy areas. The measured stride from left heel to right heel was three feet five inches, and the left heel to left heel measurement was six feet six inches.

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