Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy

Investigator's Comments

Daryl Colyer

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Lamar County, Texas in October 2005.

This report is one of the most fascinating to date that I have investigated. Not because of the nature of the sighting; as bigfoot encounters go, this was as "routine" as they come. In the Ark-La-Tex-Oma region, after hunter encounters, the motorist encounter is the most numerous. I found this report particularly compelling because I found the actual witness to be reluctant and have a measure of innocence about the subject.

I interviewed the witness, who was at first totally reluctant to discuss the matter. The submitter of the report, the witness's friend, had submitted the report against the witness's wishes. However, after some coaxing, the witness agreed to talk with us about the incident.

The witness's statement was exactly as the initial report had indicated; she was driving into Paris, Texas from Kansas. She was coming to visit her friend (the one actually submitted the report).

The witness claimed to have had no knowledge whatsoever of sasquatch sightings in Oklahoma or Texas. She only knew what her eyes were telling her brain; she saw a large, black, hair-covered creature on the shoulder of Highway 82 that, when she first saw it, immediately caused her to think "giant gorilla."

The witness was driving eastward on Highway 82 at approximately 11:30 pm. She was approaching Paris, and was probably within 15 miles. She did not recall seeing it until she was very close to it. The witness remembered seeing, just a few feet in front of her vehicle, on the right shoulder of the highway, what she immediately thought was a large or "giant gorilla." In her own words, "it was really big" and it "scared" her quite a bit. She told me that she actually passed right by it, within "an arm's reach" and it appeared to be facing the highway and "backing up," as a pedestrian might do if too close to traffic. The subject appeared to be bipedal, and appeared as a "slumped-over" human all covered with hair, thus the gorilla-like appearance. She recalled no facial detail whatsoever. She recalled "black fur or hair," and recalled a thick body, like a gorilla, with a broad chest and shoulders. She remembered with certainty the "broad chest and shoulder." The witness had the impression that there may have been a "smaller one," but she passed it so quickly, that she could not be certain about that. As she passed it, the witness was certain that the subject was upright and taller than her Chevrolet Trailblazer.

The witness assured me that she was not delirious, nor was she in a state of near-sleep. She also assured me that what she saw was an actual animal; it was large, between six and seven feet in height. The witness grew up on a farm; she was adamant that what she saw was not a cow. She was certain that it was not a dog, large cat or bear. With certainty, the witness stated repeatedly that "it looked like a giant gorilla."

The Red River watershed has a long history of similar sightings. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana have had their share of reported sightings along this historic river over the last two centuries. We may now add this report to the already long list of Red River watershed "wild man" or bigfoot sightings.