YEAR: 2025

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 12

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Levy County

LOCATION DETAILS: Goethe State Forest

[Investigator Notes:

GPS for where the bigfoot crossed the road:

29.148138, -82.605572

NEAREST TOWN: Dunnellon, Florida

NEAREST ROAD: SE Levy County Road 337

OBSERVED: At 11:15 AM my wife and I were traveling south on SE Levy County Road 337 through the Goethe State Forest near Dunnellon, Florida. Between N Gasoline Rd. and N Prong Rd. I observed a bipedal figure exit the forest from the west, take 5 or 6 strides to cross the road into the forest on the east side. As this was happening I said to my wife "Look. Look! LOOK!!" She looked in time to see a second one (I saw both) completing it's run across the road. A distance of 50 to 60 feet was covered in one second. I kept my eyes on the sight of the crossing (about 200 feet ahead of us) and came to a stop on the east side of the road where we got out and looked for evidence. No sightings as there was a small hill on the east side and the only possible evidence was several large impressions in the dry grass about 8 to 10 feet apart.

ALSO NOTICED: No road through woods but trace of a game trail and indications of foot prints in vegetation about 8 to 10 feet apart.

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife and I.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11:15 AM

ENVIRONMENT: Hot, sunny, and clear.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dr. Robert S. (MD):

I spoke with Rick and his wife Lori for over 30 minutes by phone as they related their encounter. We had additional email exchanges, and then I was able to visit the sighting area. I found them both to be quite credible and awestruck about what they saw. Rick is a retired property appraiser for Citrus County where they have lived for over 25 years.

On this Saturday morning they were on their way home from a swap meet, taking a road with “30 miles of nothing” as a preferred route. Rick estimated he saw creature #1 at a distance of 500-600 feet ahead, and their vehicle was going around 60mph (= 88 feet/sec). Even at that distance, they could clearly see upright (bipedal) creatures with legs and arms moving quickly in a running style, and it seemed to Rick the arms were unusually long. Both creatures looked identical, uniformly very dark (black or dark gray in color), but they were too far away to make out details regarding hair or facial features.

He was struck how fast the creatures “glided” across the road from right to left and into the tree line. Interestingly, creature #2 waited until creature #1 had entered the woods on the other side before starting across.

By the time she looked up Lori was able to see creature #2 before it disappeared (Rick noted it ‘leapt’) into the woods on the left. Rick endeavored to keep his eyes fixed on the entry point, estimated now to be 200 feet ahead. There were no other vehicles in sight when the creatures crossed (perhaps purposeful timing on their part), but Rick mentioned there is typically steady traffic on that state road.

Since the event, they made a trip back to the location to better approximate the crossing site and shared the below photos, which includes the assessed entry point into the woods (northeast of the road), and also a staged pic with his 5’5” wife down the road with arms extended overhead to 7 feet. He assessed the creature to be about 1.5 feet taller than her reach, and much bulkier.

I was also able to travel to the location about 4 weeks after the sighting, and noted the following:

- The distance between tree lines on either side of the road is about 80 feet, and the road itself is 25 feet wide. Covering that distance in a second or two is world class sprinter speed.

- These woods do have thinner spots that would allow quick passage. See below for a pano off the roadside looking northeast, this is where Rick saw impressions 8-10 apart.

- There is 5-foot-high x 10 feet wide elevated berm tucked 25 feet inside the eastern woods and parallel to the road, bordering swampy woods. Rick believes this berm to be the remains of a railroad track, and there is still some course gravel on top which supports that theory. See attached photo looking northwest along this berm…I just happened to capture a deer in the distance (did not realize it at the time).

- The forest roads are a mix of gravel and hardpacked clay, not ideal substrate for tracks.

- Goethe State Forest has extensive hiking and horseback trails that could provide opportunities for encounters…see below trail map with marked sighting location.

- Nearby Class A reports include #14457, #17644, #40935.

Both Rick and Lori were previously somewhat familiar with the Bigfoot subject and would even joke about keeping their eyes open for Bigfoot since they enjoy traversing sparsely populated areas in this region, but both became convinced of their existence after their sighting. Rick feels the creatures he saw were similar to the creature caught on the dashcam footage from Finding Bigfoot season 1 (north Georgia), mostly due to the speed, smoothness, and it similarily crossed right to left. Lori was struck by the rarity of what they saw, and says it still gives her goosebumps talking about the experience. They travel the same route monthly and will be vigilant for more sightings.

Goethe State Forest is around 55K acres and comprised of mostly longleaf pines and cypress swamps, with an extensive area of contiguous hydric hammock. The forest is known for exceptional birding and houses at least 34 species of orchids, along with rare animals such as the Florida black bear and the bald eagle. Overall this interesting ecosystem has plenty of resources to sustain a Bigfoot population.

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Notes from Investigator Matt Moneymaker.

A few days after this report was finalized, but not yet published, we received an email from a resident not terribly far away from this location -- 4.5 miles northeast. The email described loud bigfoot-like tree knocks. This occurred around 9:30pm.

The resident was outside recording a spectacular thunderhead and lightenning flashes in the distance. She inadvertantly captured audio of the tree knocks in the background while trying to record the flashing thunderhead.

In the background of the recording you can hear the first two knocks, and then a third knock after a brief pause. I listenned to the recording closely. Indeed, it sounds like bigfoot wood knocks. I can understand why the witness was quickly able to exclue every other possibility.

The witness said the loud knocks were coming from different directions, as if the creatures were signaling to eachother. If the witness is correct about the sounds coming from different directions, then there were least two creatures present.

This occurred at an isolated property with woods on all four sides. There was no one else in the vicinity. The house is situated on a large tract of undeveloped land with a few green farm fields and lots of ranch land for grazing. It is distinctly different habitat than the big forest enviroment in Goethe SR. This land will still attract deer though, so it makes sense for it to be on the patrol route of bigfoots living in nearby Goethe SF

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About BFRO Investigator Dr. Robert S. (MD):

Robert S. is a physician practicing in Florida. He has attended numerous public and private expeditions since 2006 in FL, GA, TN, WA, OR, CA, NM, NY, and NC.