YEAR: 2026

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 11

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Burlington County

LOCATION DETAILS: Route 542 near Loveland Lane, New Gretna, NJ

NEAREST TOWN: Batsto

NEAREST ROAD: Jackson

OBSERVED: This happened around 10PM. I was driving with my husband and kids on the rural roads near Bass River. We drove along Route 542. As we rounded the bend where Loveland Lane merges into Route 542 (you can see the Loveland Ln street sign when going around the bend on the left side of the road) I became terrified in a matter of seconds. Our high beams illuminated a massive figure up ahead stepping out from the right side of the road. I stepped on the brakes to slow down.

It stood about 8 feet tall. It was bulky, heavily built GIANT frame. It was covered in jet-black fur and it appeared to be soaking wet. Our headlights were reflecting off its fur. I saw enough detail to distinguish human-like hands and unusually long arms. It walked with a slight hunch but moved at fast speed. It didn’t take many steps for it to get across the road. Thing moved fast enough to look like it was gliding without actually gliding. Its arms swung like a human walks but with heavy reach. I asked my husband if he was seeing the same thing I was ... He confirmed that he saw it.

It cleared the span of Route 542 and vanished into the darkness. Thankfully our children slept through it in the back seat. I sped out of the area. I called my mother after we were some distance away. I told her what we had just witnessed.

On the drive back home Jason [husband] told me about what we saw. Before then I knew almost nothing of a Bigfoot or a Sasquatch. I saw this giant creature with my own eyes. We know what we saw. It was definitely about 8 feet tall.

OTHER WITNESSES: 2

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Dark and raining

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jacob Korbel:

At 10:30 PM on Sunday October 11 Jason and Keyara were out taking a night drive through the Pine Barrens. They came upon what they described as a large, black figure cross the road diagonally. They watched it go into the woods on the other side.

They noticed long arms. Its arms were bent and swung while walking. They did not see the face. They told us it walked with a hunch and had short shiny black fur. What they saw shocked them so much they ended up calling NJ State Park Police and the NJDEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) after they returned home. Those places said they didn't deal with those types of incidents. The NJDEP referred them to the BFRO.

A week later Mike and I agreed to meet with them at the location to look for possible footprints and do a recreation of what they saw.

Upon meeting them they showed us the exact area they first saw it, then where they last saw it. It was clear right away that there was a game trail on both sides of the road. It is well used by wildlife. We searched the area and found some broken branches and a few ambiguous impressions but nothing we could confidentally connect with the sighting.

Southern New Jersey has had lots of heavy rain this fall, including the night of the sighting. Any impressions that were made could have washed away.

Despite its proximity to some houses and neighborhoods the area was very thick and marshy otherwise. The road cut between a couple large pieces of private property that connected to two large state forests.

The entire time we were there, the witnesses were visibly uncomfortable, scanning the woods often and looking over their shoulders at the woods, reluctant to separate from our group.

After doing a recreation it became clear that they saw it for about 4-5 seconds. After trying to measure the height from a nearby telephone pole, we gauged it to be between 7 1/2- 8 feet tall.

Mike and I both believe the witnesses to be credible. They had a very normal, human reaction to seeing something they didn't believe exists.
__________________________________________________

About BFRO Investigator Jacob Korbel:

I’m a lifelong resident of southern NJ and If I’m not working, I’m exploring the vast 1.1 million acres of Pine Barrens.
I was pretty skeptical on the subject, until I had my own encounter in 2018 while doing field work in the pines. To fulfill my curiosity on the subject i went to my first expedition in 2021, where i had another class B sighting and various vocalizations that could only be attributed to sasquatch. Ever since then i do field work as much as i can out in the pine barrens and northern NJ, I remain as skeptical as possible with everything and will eliminate every possibility before calling anything bigfoot related.
I have attended some of the following expeditions
South Jersey Fall 2021
North Jersey Spring 2022
North Jersey Fall 2022
North Jersey Spring 2023
North Jersey Fall 2023
North Jersey Spring 2024
North Jersey Fall 2024
Co-organized South Jersey Spring 2025
Organized South Jersey Spring 2026
North Jersey Fall 2026