YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: March

DATE: 18th

STATE: Oklahoma

COUNTY: Le Flore County

LOCATION DETAILS: It was approximately 1 mile south of the 259 and 88 intersection in the curviest part of the road. It was on the east side of the HWY, right on the west end of Rich Mt.

NEAREST TOWN: Big Cedar, OK

NEAREST ROAD: HWY 259 and HWY88

OBSERVED: My wife and I were in Broken Bow, OK on Sun. the 18th of March 2012. We live in Arkansas about 20 miles west, but on a whim decided to take a 2 hr detour north on HWY 259 and cut across Rich Mt. Rich Mt is the highest point in the Ouachita Mts. I had commented about how squatchy the area looked and my wife replied that we would not see one in the day time. Well, about 45 minutes later she saw one. We were about a mile south of Talimena Scenic By-Way on 259, right on the west end of Rich Mt. She said it was about 35-40 ft off the road walking behind a tree. She described it as being 9-10 ft tall with stringy hair of varying shades of brown. She noticed it was bipedal with long arms swinging in the usual 'squatchy' way. She was very firm when I asked if perhaps it was a bear and said that she knew what she saw. As my luck goes, we were at a point where the road was hairpin curves with no shoulders and no way to turn around. I guess I'll have to wait for my first sighting. One thing she mentioned was noticing the muscles in the arms and legs. If this was a man in a suit they went to some trouble to pull it off.

ALSO NOTICED: None

OTHER WITNESSES: None

OTHER STORIES: This was approximately 30 miles in crow flight from the famous town of Honobia, OK.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was right at 11:30 am, partly cloudy with 20-30 mph winds.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine Forest mountains, very steep incline where sighting was.

A & G References: 10-7

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

I spoke with both witness and her husband on speaker phone. They are both very familar with the woods, mountains, and the creatures that live there. They are both avid outdoors people and he is a hunter. She remembers seeing one at least 20 years ago, as a child, though it was smaller than this one reported. There are many stories from their neck of the woods. She was reluctant to come forward because she knows how people react to stories in her area. She did mention that the few people she confided to also told stories about sightings once "someone went first" and mentioned a sighting. He recalled years ago a nasty foul odor coming from the woods, and the distinct feeling there was something there. He has heard sounds and other indications over the years, and will probably be paying closer attention while in the woods. They were both quite friendly, intelligent and well spoken, and she was quite certain of what she saw. As she said to her husband,"If I saw a freaking bear, I would have told you it was a bear". I know the difference, and bears don't walk on 2 legs and they don't have arms". I see no reason to doubt their story.

The dominant feature was the hands, large, long and human/ape like. They were the first thing she noticed as the creature appeared from behind a tree. The very first thing that caught her eye was the arm movement and hands. They were swinging "with the usual gait" as the creature walked behind a tree and then re-emerged. That is what she first saw, arm movement, and then, as the creature emerged from behind the tree, she saw the entire creature. It was a side profile view as it was walking, not a full frontal view. It did not look at them and did not try to flee or hurry its exit. It was just a relaxed walk and did not appear to make note of their presence. The creature was estimated to be 7-7.5 feet tall, not too much difference in height from her husband. Originally she reported it to be 9 ft tall, but upon reflection she decided it was smaller. Her view was slow, steady, and unobstructed.

The highway they were on has a hairpin turn, so the speed was down to15- 20 mph, and the sighting occurred as they slowed down for the curve. She had a perfect slow motion view of the creature for about 10 - 15 seconds.

This area is very hilly, rocky, heavily treed with several good water sources, both rivers and creeks, as well as abundant wildlife. This range of mountains, hills, and water sources is less than 30 miles from Honobia. There have been numerous sightings in and near that town, with a possible habituation area as well. This would be a perfect corridor of travel for the species.

About BFRO Investigator Carter Buschardt:

Carter is originally from Texas & moved to Missouri in 1988. Professional drummer for 20 years. Improv & sketch comic and writer for 5 years. Lighting technician for major touring groups for several years. Experienced outdoorsman and was a trained investigator for MUFON. Studied Herpetology in college. Longtime special interest in Sasquatch long term habituation, burial research, infra sound, language & stick structures. He led three Missouri BFRO Public Expeditions:, 2012 & 2013 & 2014. Led public expedition for BFRO in Illinois in 2019.Participated in Iowa, 2012 Illinois. Michigan 2016. Private Expeditions: Illinois 2011, 2012, 2013. Missouri 2011, 2012 (3) 2013(2) 2014. Iowa 2012, 2014 & 2015. Consulted on two Animal Planet Finding Bigfoot TV shows. Expedition leader in Missouri 2013 (1) & 2014 (2) & Illinois Expedition 2019 (1). Led night ops on numerous BFRO expeditions. Hosted a public Town Hall meeting in Missouri in 2017.