Class 3a Encounter Report in Gary City, TX, Case #01090093

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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: 01090093

Class 3a

Nurse has early-morning highway encounter near Lake Murvaul.

Report Details

Occurrence date: December/2009
Location: Panola County, TX
Nearby/Vicinity: Gary City
Time / Conditions: 05:00 — Light fog.
# of Witnesses: 1

Witness Account:
My daughter in-law saw a bigfoot cross the road in front of her on the way to work about 5:15 am on FM 10 out of Gary, Texas. She said it wasn't a black bear and it was walking upright like a human. We called and talked to a local game warden to see if there had been any reported activity of such. He said there had been in the past months. This was all new to us. Because we haven't heard of anyone seeing one in our local area.

Investigator's Observations

Investigator(s): Ken Stewart and Alex Diaz

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred near Murvaul Creek in Panola County on December 8, 2009.

We interviewed the witness initially by telephone. She seemed credible and truthful so we were compelled to continue the interview in person and on site. Several days later, the witness?s father-in-law met us at the airport and took us to the sighting location where the witness was waiting. The witness was very cooperative even though we later learned that it was not her idea to submit the report to the NAWAC.

The witness is a nurse and her trained-observation skills provided insightful details of the sighting. To re-enact her sighting, we rode in her vehicle as she showed us the route that she took.

She explained that conditions were dark and foggy. She stated that she was on her way to work, driving north on FM Highway 10 at about 5:15 a.m., and had crossed through the Murvaul Creek bottomland which has a series of three bridges. After driving out of the bottoms and reaching the crest of the hill, the highway curves to the right sharply. She was traveling slowly at thirty-five miles per hour because of the risk of hitting deer at night, the sharp turn ahead in the road, and the fog. While in the turn, her headlights illuminated a bipedal figure in the center of the road causing her to brake the car. She stated that the subject was too tall to be a normal person. The subject was in the process of crossing the road, heading towards the left ditch. She commented that her initial reaction was to check to see if her doors were locked. She also volunteered that her arms were immediately covered with goose bumps.

She assumed the subject was male due to the build of the body. She stated that she could not see the face as the subject only moved its head slightly to the left, perhaps to gain peripheral vision of her oncoming car. When asked to describe the figure, she said the large subject appeared to be completely covered with one shade of hair, either dark brown or black hair. She could not give a hair-length estimate but she did recall that the length appeared to be of similar length all over the body. The shoulders and head were slightly stooped forward while walking. She stated the subject walked with a long gait but with an average pace and normal arm swing; however, she stated the arms seemed to be longer than average when compared to a human. She described the chest as thick.

By the time her car crossed the subject?s path, the figure was in the ditch, walking away and perpendicularly to the road, towards the woods. The witness could still see the figure?s silhouette due to the glow of Christmas decoration lights of a nearby home on the left side of the road. She said the subject had broad shoulders, but they were not disproportional to the rest of the torso and hips. The witness told us that she did not turn the vehicle around to investigate after she passed the subject.

After the witness drove us by the sighting location, we turned onto a gas well service road as it was not safe to park on the curve of the highway. We used this location to interview the witness further to determine additional information. The witness estimated the subject?s height as being between seven to seven and one-half feet. Alex stood at various distances from the vehicle so we could obtain a better estimate of the witness?s distance from the subject. We estimated that the subject was approximately twenty-five yards from the vehicle before the subject stepped off the road.

She stated that the figure only took two steps to move from the center of the highway to the edge of the road. The distance between these two points was eleven feet, meaning the stride of the subject was approximately five feet. When the vehicle passed the figure, she estimated the subject was approximately ten yards away. The duration of the sighting was estimated to be four to five seconds. The witness recalled that later in the day while at her job, she sent her husband a text message stating that she had seen a sasquatch.

While interviewing the witness, the landowner from the nearby home came over to talk to us. The witness?s brother-in-law had called him earlier in the week to tell him what had allegedly occurred and to ask him if we could search his property for footprints. Although the landowner originally did not want anyone on his land, he agreed to let us look for only that day. He also told me that the land was not leased for deer hunting, making it less likely that the witness just saw a camouflaged hunter crossing the road.

The father-in-law came with us as we walked the property by the road and the surrounding forest for over two hours, focusing on low areas where the soil was soft. We noted that the area on both sides of the road was not conducive for tracks due to heavy grass, weeds, and pine straw. On the various nearby trails, we found deer tracks, hog, coyote and possible bobcat tracks, but no tracks of the subject.

The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy investigated another alleged sighting approximately three miles south of this location. In addition, there have been numerous reports in the Sabine River basin located ten miles to the east. We conducted an aerial reconnaissance of the site and surrounding area, noting that pine and hardwood forest is abundant around and between the sighting location and both Lake Murvaul and the Sabine River basin. We also noted the water levels of nearby creeks and rivers were unusually high.

We could discern no deception on the part of the witness. Our assessment is that she was telling the truth and that she believes that she did in fact encounter a form of wildlife that she could not readily identify. Our firsthand and extensive evaluation of the witness only strengthened the veracity of the report. When she recounted her observations, she displayed goose bumps on her arms, showing she was still affected by what she saw. Also, we reviewed the NOAA National Weather Service report for the day, noting that fog was present the morning of the alleged sighting. So, in conclusion, the strength of the witness, and a history of similar observations in the area suggest to us that this report is reliable and likely factual in nature.

(Ken Stewart is a pilot and accountant; Alex Diaz is a photo-journalist.)

Photos

Aerial view of location. Photo by Alex Diaz.
The subject reportedly crossed this section of highway. Photo by Alex Diaz.
Lake Murvaul is three miles from the sighting location. Photo by Alex Diaz.

Map

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