Report Received From: The GCBRO Online Report Submission Form.
 

DATE:    1997
 

TIME:     3 - 4 pm
 

LOCATION:   Highlands County, Florida
 

TERRAIN:    Wooded
 

OBSERVED:    We've lived in Florida all of our lives and I've never believed in the skunk ape or bigfoot until now, because of my oldest daughter having seen one. This happened in 1997 when she was about ten years old. At the time, she had never even heard of bigfoot or the skunk ape because we don't watch much TV, and she had  never seen anything about it in books or magazines either. The incident happened in Highlands county near the Polk county line.  We were at my mother in laws house which is pretty far out in the country next to a stream. The terrain could best be described as scrub, and the stream is thickly wooded on both sides with trees, vines, and palmettos. Anyway, it was about 3 or 4 O'clock in the afternoon and broad daylight. Me, my husband, my mother in law and her husband were inside my mother in law's house, and my daughter was standing just outside the back door facing the stream which is about 200 feet or so from the back door. She suddenly came running in the house out of breath and very excited saying over and over that she had just seen a big tall hairy thing. She said that she was standing in the back yard facing the stream when she heard something crashing through the woods on the edge of the stream coming towards her. Thinking it was going to be a deer or something like that, she just stood there waiting to see it emerge from the thick trees and brush. But instead of a deer she saw a very, very tall creature covered head to toe in hair or fur. She said it was at least 8 feet tall. She said it came out of the trees and brush into plain view and sort of trotted past her running parallel to the stream, and then went back into the brush and continued traveling along the stream. It was running slowly, almost sort of jogging with its arms held sort of stiffly at its sides and bent at the elbow. She said that it never looked in her direction but only looked straight ahead. Her description of it is as follows-   Very tall, about 8 feet or so. Covered head to foot in dark brown hair or fur about 1 to 2 inches in length. The hair on the stomach area was a lighter brown color. It was jogging along on two legs upright like a man. The creature was very dirty and muddy. It had a sort of cone shaped head and no neck. It's head sat right down on it's shoulders. It had no visible ears. It's lips sort of poked out some. It had long arms and big hands and feet. It's legs were extremely muscular.    Anyway, that is her account of what she saw. Three years later, my sister in law and her two kids saw a skunk ape in the same area but in Polk county.
 

Activities of Witness:   Standing outside the back door facing the stream.
 

Description of Creature:  Very tall, about 8 feet or so. Covered head to foot in dark brown hair or fur about 1 to 2 inches in length. The hair on the stomach area was a lighter brown color. It was jogging along on two legs upright like a man. The creature was very dirty and muddy. It had a sort of cone shaped head and no neck. It's head sat right down on it's shoulders. It had no visible ears. It's lips sort of poked out some. It had long arms and big hands and feet. It's legs were extremely muscular.
 

Other Notes:    N/A
 

Additional Notes and or Follow up Comments:  Upon contact the witness had no additional information to add to this report.

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