YEAR: 1971

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 15

STATE: Louisiana

COUNTY: Calcasieu Parish

LOCATION DETAILS: Louisiana is sportsman paradise on the bayou. We lived worked and played along the river bottoms and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. It is rich in all types of wildlife and would be the perfect place for a large animal to live with out being notice.

NEAREST TOWN: Lake Charles -Westlake area

NEAREST ROAD: Evans street near I-10 Hwy

OBSERVED: I was born and raised on the bayou and would crab and fish with my family along the river, the local people would call this area fisher rider road which was along the mouth of the gulf of Mexico. My family and I was living in the town called Lake Charles which was across from West lake that was a industrial area Which led into small towns that was heavily wooded. It was the middle of September A muggy type of day. We lived in a place called Booker T. Washington courts. My mother, sister and I was waiting for my father to return from work late one afternoon. After a couple of hours we became concern I remember my mother being worried. By that time it turned dark and I remembered my mother said that it was 9pm. Finally my father walks thru the door but not empty handed. My father was a avid fisherman and thought that he would surprise his girls with fresh fish. I remembered the wonderful smell that came from that kitchen that night. It got hot so my mother opened the back door. That is when my sister and I had a chance to play, You see we would take turns pushing each other so that we could taking a ride on the screen door.
It was a starry night I remembered looking up to take a view of the sky. So I decided to climb up on to the door to take a ride and I looked out to my backyard area where every one would park there cars, and the trash cans would be lineup in a row on the curve in front of cars. About 47-50ft away there was a tree also and remembered it because the leaves would never fall. The light pole was sitting under the tree with it’s bright light that would shine and light up that entire area. Than suddenly I seen what I thought was Tony the tiger walk up to the metal trash can rip the lid off and savagely dig through the can looking for something. It was a beautiful sight to look upon this 7 1/2ft short red haired, muscular being. My sister and I look at it for about 20 minutes. I was so happy that Tony had came to visit. but why did he not even turn his head to look at my sister and I. So we continued to look at it what I remember the most was the beautiful red rusty looking hair and its tan face. I only heard the rustling of the garbage the most striking thing that I remember was how long his arm were from the wrist to the hand area the fingers where long that when he was digging in trash he did not have to bent completely over to reach the bottom of the can. So I turned to my mother and said "Mommy tony the tiger is digging in the trash can. My mother walked up to the door looked out and told us to quickly get away from the door and closed it in a hurry and locked it. It was never mention to my father who was in the next room. The next day we were allowed to go out to play I immediately went to investigate and their was trash thrown all over the place up to 10ft or so. The metal trash can lid was bent also and I though to my self why would Tony do this? This incident has never been discussed and being 5 years old at the time I didn’t think that anyone would believe their was such a thing.

ALSO NOTICED: I have pics of the area where I had the sighting and also of my sister and I standing outside where it was seen. You can see the tree in the pics.

OTHER WITNESSES: 3- my mother, sister and me.

OTHER STORIES: In 1986 in West lake, LA my sister live in this area and had a friend that she work with at the time that came home after the late shift and was placing some garage outside about 3am and notice a large animal standing on two feet, during this time it was also seen digging in the trash. It was reported to the local police department. But the witness said it was a large dark man not an animal because she though that she would not be believed and it would be bad to make a prank call to the police.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was a muggy night but the stars where out. 9pm was dark but their was a light from my back porch and also a tree with a light pole that had a very bright light shining down on this area

ENVIRONMENT: It was a muggy night but the stars where out. 9pm was dark but their was a light from my back porch and also a tree with alight pole that had a very bright light shining down on this area

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Cathy Betz:

I spoke to KB for over an hour on the phone and she had these details to add-
-When KB was five years old, her and her younger sister were playing near the back screen door at about 9pm in the evening when she saw a 7 1/2 foot tall, bipedal creature walk out of the woods. She described its gait as being very smooth, and fluid-like, unlike how a human would walk, but more as if it were skiing.
-It approached a row of community garbage cans behind her house and ripped open the first can, bending the metal lid, and began 'savagely' digging through the garbage, strewing it about in a ten foot radius.
-KB was only 50 feet from the creature and she could see it clearly because it was directly under a street light. She described it as being covered in reddish, or orangey-rust colored hair and that the street light seemed to give the tips of its hair a silvery sheen.
-The creature was approx 350lbs, had a barrel chest, slim hips and that it was remarkably muscular. KB stated that its arms and legs were longer than a human's and that its hands were long. She added that it did not have to bend at the waist in order to reach the bottom of the garbage can.
-When asked to compare it to the Patterson Creature, KB remarked that this creature seemed 'more fit', less bulky and that its muscles seemed to 'pop out' from beneath its 'well-groomed' hair. She also stated that although it kept its face averted and that she didn't get a good look at it, she stated that its head was pointed at the top and that she got the overall impression that it was a young male.
-Although the sighting lasted well over 20 minutes, and KB was sure that the creature was aware of her, it didn't act intimidated by her and her sister's presence. It only seemed interested in getting to whatever was in the bottom of the can, which KB speculates was fish and crab remains.
-When asked if she smelled anything, KB responded that she could not smell anything over the odor of the fish her mother was cooking at the time.
-Being that KB was only five years old at the time, all she could liken the creature to was the cartoon spokes-animal, 'Tony the Tiger' because of its muscular build and orangish color. When she finally called to her mother and exclaimed 'Mommy, Tony the Tiger is digging in the trash can", her mother looked out, saw the creature and slammed the door shut.
-KB never saw the creature after that. Her younger sister did not remember the incident, and her mother has maintained all of these years that it was just a 'tall dog' rooting through the garbage.
-At the time of the incident, their house backed up to the woods and the area was riddled with woods and abandoned industrial areas. Most of the people in her neighborhood fished and the scraps would always go into the garbage cans.

I found KB to be forthright and sincere and although the incident happened over 15 years ago, her recollection of it was remarkably vivid.

About BFRO Investigator Cathy Betz:

Cathy has been a nurse for over 27 years and currently works in a busy ICU. An amateur naturalist, Cathy has been intrigued by the bigfoot phenomenon from an early age.
Attended the following expeditions:
- The 2006 Florida Expedition
- The 2007 North Carolina Expedition
- The 2008 South Florida Expedition
- The 2008 North Florida Expedition
- The 2009 Central Florida Expedition
- The 2009 Utah Expedition
- The 2010 TN Survey Expedition
- The 2011 East Texas Expedition
-The 2012 North FL Expedition
-The 2013 Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition
For more information, please see the Florida BFRO