MONROE, Mich. - An organization has found that a father and son who reported seeing a Bigfoot in a marshy area of Monroe County are "credible."
I've written a lot of stories over my nearly 12 years in the Local 4 newsroom, but this is a new one. That's right: It's the first time I've written "Bigfoot." (Yes, I went back and checked the archive.)
Apparently, there's a group called the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization -- BFRO, for short. The organization claims to be the "only scientific research organization exploring the Bigfoot/Sasquatch mystery."
Look, I wouldn't say I'm a believer in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster or any of those mysterious unconfirmed creatures. But I also haven't explored every corner of the Earth, so who am I to say for sure?
According to a father and son in Monroe County, they saw a bigfoot this very weekend!
The BFRO report says a 47-year-old man and his 12-year-old son were bow fishing around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 18, 2025, in the area of I-75 and Laplaisance Road in Monroe.
They were in the wooded area behind the Monroe County Inmate Dormitory Facility and near a quarry, according to the report. It's illegal to hunt there, but fishing is allowed.
"One hundred yards into the marsh, the dog scared up something that was bedded there," the man told BFRO. "Trees were shaking. We thought it was a group of deer. We continued on 200 more yards to the creek basin in the marsh."
Around that time, the man and his son heard sirens, so he stopped to pull out his ear buds and listen to the police scanner app on his phone, he said.
"All of a sudden, I heard rustling in a tree to the left and a huge thud hitting the ground from the tree," the report says. "A big heavy animal hit the ground and crouched and start moving towards me through brush. My dog fired off from the right of me toward the creature. The dog almost got to it but the creature shot off extremely fast through trees and brush. The dog chased the creature up the slope and over the train tracks. I then called for my dog to come back."
The 12-year-old said the creature was the size of a bear but looked like a gorilla.
During a follow-up investigation, the BFRO investigator said he found the man and his son to be credible
"I asked many questions about what they saw, and what the animal did," the investigator wrote. "I asked enough to discern that it was not a bear. It was a large, dark, furred primate that ran up a slope on two legs looking like a gorilla from behind. Yes, that would be a Bigfoot."
The investigator said the creature jumped from 10 feet up the tree, but never faced the man and his son. He said it ran up the slope on two legs and was about 6 feet tall while hunched over.
The investigator said the encounter lasted less than 10 seconds, so there was no chance to get a picture.
"There are lots of cattails around this marsh, as well," the investigator wrote. "Therefore, two things Bigfoots consume, especially in winter: cattails and deer. There are likely other food sources around this marsh, as well."
The investigator went on to explain why he believes this would be a suitable spot for a Bigfoot. You can read the full report here.
I'm from Monroe County, and our house was surrounded by woods growing up. Who knows? Maybe I had a lot more to worry about than mosquitoes!
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