SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –
“Missouri has a long history of Bigfoot activity,” says Bigfoot researcher. “News reports dating all the way back to the 1800s, the Kansas City Star, the New York Times have reports about the Wildman of the Ozarks.”
Dozens of people across the Ozarks every year claim they see the ape-like creature. And the reports may not be from people you’d think.
“To this day, we still receive witness reports from people with character, police officers, college professors, scientists, doctors and lawyers,” said Ron Boles.
“That Sasquatch are persistent mystery that have been in records in sightings and drawings for thousands of years,” said Cliff Barackman of “Finding Bigfoot.”
Ron Boles, the man who heads up the local chapter of the Bigfoot Research Organization and Cliff Barackman, the man behind Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” say a lot of people are fascinated with the idea of Sasquatch.
“I think that the idea of a real monster that is so similar to us walking around really grabs our attention,” said Barackman.
And these investigators say there’s evidence.
“For the past 50 years or so to this day people happen upon and photograph and cast Bigfoot footprints,” said Ron Boles.
“The footprint casts, at leaf the ones we think are real, specialists see that there is anatomy in there, that is consistent from cast to cast, no matter where they were collected,” said Barackman.
But one Drury professor isn’t convinced.
“Not likely no,” said Dr. Kevin Jansen, Drury Professor of Biology. “A good example would be the mountain lion. It has made a modest comeback but they still get hit by cars and noticed by people. There is clear video so it is something that still gets viewed, and the mythical Bigfoot has to have that happen.”
Dr. Kevin Jansen – a professor of Biology – says “Bigfoot” is most likely something much less mysterious.
“In the Ozarks, black bears are something that people could mistake for something different, says Jansen.
He says people who think it’s Bigfoot, are probably confused about the height.
“A six-foot-tall black bear could easily be seen as a nine-foot-tall thing in the woods, so yes, I think a black bear could be mistaken from something different,” said Jansen.
“Fact! For over 400 years, this has been in the first Native American, and early settlers of North American recounts,” said Boles.
“The notion of us never having had a direct encounter with a Bigfoot is odd,” said Jansen.
“People say do you believe in Bigfoots? Bigfoots are real and the evidence tells us that,” said Barackman.
And these Bigfoot investigators say the Ozarks is a great location for the Sasquatch.
“Bigfoot 101, where there is food, where there is good clean running water, where there is terrain where they can get around and easily conceal themselves, then there is a possibility of Bigfoot activity,” said Boles.
“There is so much land and so much food, these things have a lot of room to play,” said Barackman.
“The presence of a possible Bigfoot population is just difficult to accept by a scientist because, the population size that would be required to maintain a mating system and if it’s a primate related organism, you would assume there would be some social system necessary,” said Jansen.
But researcher Boles says he has proof there are groups of Sasquatch in the Ozarks…based on one sighting in the woods, right here in McDonald County.
“There were three good ol’ boys over Labor Day weekend and they were coming back around 1:00 a.m. from fishing,” said Boles.
Those men would have their one and only encounter with the hairy beast about five-years-ago They got within 15 feet of the creature when it stood up and looked them – not just once, but twice.
“I asked the witness so was the hair matters, dirty, mangled, and it was the second witness that responds,” said Boles. “No! This struck me as funny, the hair was very clean and unmated.
Boles says that is proof, this creature wasn’t alone.