Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy

Investigator's Comments

Charles DeVore

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Harrison County, Texas, in 2003.

I interviewed the witness at his home 17 April 2003. The witness is 37 year old man who seemed extremely knowledgeable of the outdoors. He told me that he has been a hunter all his life. It's likely that he has spent much more time in the outdoors than the average person. He told me that he has hunted and harvested most North American game including Louisiana alligators, elk and even a grizzly bear. He shared with me a number of his experiences while hunting.

The witness and I drove to the site together. The sighting was on Highway 154, eastbound from Harleton, Texas enroute to Marshall, Texas.

The witness took me through the highlights of the night of his visual encounter. It was dusk and he was driving home from a job site in a bit of a hurry. The sun was just setting and the witness remembered having his bright lights activated. Then, at a distance of approximately 300 to 350 yards, the witness noticed movement coming up a steep bank on his right. It appeared to be some sort of large animal stepping out onto the paved part of the highway. The witness was amazed as he realized that this figure was actually up on two legs. It appeared to lope onto and across the road in three long steps, with what appeared to be long arms swinging. The witness recalled that the subject gave a slight glance his way, exposing only one eye to headlight reflection. The witness indicated that he saw red eye reflection for a very brief split second. The witness was now trying to stop. The witness estimated that his vehicle actually came to a stop approximately 20 yards past where the subject crossed. The witness told me that the next thing he did was jump out and run back to crossing site. He then saw a wide trail of water, approximately three feet in width, across the road where the subject had crossed; the subject apparently had just gone through the nearby bayou. There were no visible footprints. The witness looked out into the woods where the subject had gone; at that time an overpowering "dead animal smell" came his way. The wind was blowing from where the subject had entered the woods. The witness remembered that at that time that he had the feeling that he was being watched by something considerably larger than himself and that he was standing there unarmed. At this point common sense took over and the witness ran for his vehicle and quickly left. Up to this point he had never been afraid of anything in the woods.

Little Cypress Bayou was in flood stage at time of this visual encounter. There was evidence of a wildlife trail leading from the woods next to the bayou down a deep ditch and up the built-up highway embankment. During the flood stage, the water level at that crossing was 4 1/2 to 5 feet deep.

The height of the "Little Cypress Bayou" Sign was between nine and ten feet, but the sign was set off the highway down the embankment approximately 1 1/2 feet, which would make it around eight feet tall when measuring from the pavement base of the highway. The witness stated that the subject appeared to be taller than the sign; he did not accounting for any bounding motion in his height estimation. To his naked eye, the subject appeared slightly taller than the sign.

This reported visual encounter is approximately 14 miles from another sighting in Harrison County this month; both areas share common waterways. This report site is within 10 miles of other Harrison County sightings of years past.

Little Cypress Bayou joins Big Cypress Bayou. Big Cypress Bayou feeds Caddo Lake; there have been reported sightings near or on all three bodies of water. The area is mostly rural and is sparsely populated due to being in swampy flood plain.

Because of this witness's extensive background in the outdoors and his status as an expert hunter/outdoorsman, this report is classified as a 2.