YEAR: 2012

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: 7

STATE: Arkansas

COUNTY: Pulaski County

LOCATION DETAILS: I-40 between Little Rock and Conway around marker 144 heading west.

NEAREST TOWN: Marche

NEAREST ROAD: I-40 around marker 144

OBSERVED: I saw an unidentified animal around 7:55 P.M. on 12/7/12 on the side of the road with gray fur

I was driving at night on I-40 W from Little Rock to Conway around the 144 marker. It was on the right hand side of the road and was in a slumped/ sitting position. The animal was very large and had long gray/silver/black hair but mostly a dirty light gray. The best view of the animal I got was the broad side of its back. The widest part of the body was at the elbows and it appeared to be about 4.5ft wide. From what appeared to be the head to the ground was about 5.5 ft tall. As I passed by I tried slowing down and was able to see a profile shot of the animal. It appeared to be sitting looking at something on the ground. I would guess that it could be a deer that was hit by a car. I see deer at night on the sides of the road here almost every night coming through this area.

The size of the animal was scaled to a road sign I saw just before the sighting. It was a large 4x4 sign that was turned backwards so all I could only see is the gray back. Minuets later after I saw the sign, the same distance from the road and slightly down the embankment was the anima (about 1.5-2 ft away from the white line). The hair was similar to that of those long haired cows all over the body but still was able to see muscles under the hair very similar to a gorilla.

After it happened I was not sure what I saw. I tried to classify the animal. To this day I have no ideas for sure what I saw. I have seen hundreds of animals at night driving and this was the first thing I could not ID. The animal had an eerie resemblance to a Bigfoot. At the time I had never heard of a Bigfoot with light colored hair and until I saw an episode of Finding Bigfoot where an eye whitness saw a white colored Bigfoot.

I am open to any possibilities of the ID of this animal. Please let me know the BFRO's thoughts.

Thanks!

OTHER WITNESSES: No

OTHER STORIES: Yes but it was a long time ago. It's was a primate "loose in the woods in south Arkansas. In the 90's

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 7:55 P.M. Dark clear night. On the side of the road, only my headlights lighting up the animal.

ENVIRONMENT: Mostly pine and hard woods in the area.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tal H. Branco:

I spoke with the witness several times by telephone. As a result of those discussions, a few more details and observations can be added to his original report.

The animal was actually squatting about two feet off the right shoulder of the road in grass that was about six inches tall. It was positioned at an angle to the road, with its back somewhat facing the west bound traffic. The animal appeared to be looking down intently at something (which was unseen by the witness) in the grass near its feet.

In its squatted position, the animal's forearms were resting on it thighs or knees, with its elbows extending outward past its torso. The witness estimated the animal's body was about four feet wide, with each elbow extending about six inches past the body. The height of the animal in the squatted position was estimated to be five and one half feet.

The witness (a medical professional) stated he could clearly see the contour of the major muscles in the animal's back, even though the animal was covered in eight to ten inch long, somewhat matted, hair. The hair was predominantly a "dirty light grey" but with streaks that were black or silver colored.

The witness sent me an internet photo showing the hair on the Scottish Highland breed of cattle (Bos Tauras), which he said had hair similar to that he saw on the animal alongside the roadway. He also included a photo of a mature male gorilla squatting, and stated that what he had seen more closely resembled the gorrila than any other known amimal.

As the witness slowed to pass by the figure he could see that the animal's upper body was very thick, but could see none of its facial features. He stated he not able to see or describe the shape or size of the animal's head because it was tilted downward and its upper body partially blocked his view.

He stated that at the time of the sighting there were only two vehicles in front of him, but they quite a distance away. He saw no traffic behind him.

After discussing this event in detail, I concluded the witness is a credible observer and that what he saw was not a typical wild or domestic animal..

The sighting location is less than five miles SE of Grassy Lake, which is part of the Bell Slough WMA. A report and photographs regarding bare, human-like tracks in the mud near Grassy Lake can be found in Report#29313

It is also within 0.5 mile of White Oak Bayou which passes under I-40 and forms Devoe Lake and associated wet-lands one mile east. White Oak Bayou begins in Camp Robinson, which contains 32,000 acres, 4000 of which are designated a WMA and the rest an Arkansas National Guard training area. The animal seen by the witness was about two miles west of the western boundry of Camp Robinson.

Over the past few decades there have been several first-hand reports and some anecdotal reports by local residents of large, hirsute and enigmatic primates in northern Pulaski County and along the major creeks in Faulkner County.

About BFRO Investigator Tal H. Branco:

Tal Branco is a lifelong resident of AR. He began hunting, fishing and tracking many years ago in south AR. Since he was a teenager, his outdoor activities have been primarily conducted in the Ouachita Mountains, although during the past forty years he has also conducted field investigations of reports of enigmatic and unclassified animals in the southeastern U.S. and in the Amazon Basin of Brazil.

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