YEAR: 2019

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: February

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Harrison County

NEAREST TOWN: Cadiz

NEAREST ROAD: Snyder Rd.

OBSERVED: Last night I took my dog out and at about 2:45 AM. While we were outside, he seen something that scared him so bad that he drug me to the house. He acted as if I couldn't get the door open fast enough. When we got in and I got the door shut, he turned quickly and stared at the door as if whatever it was, was going to come through that door and get us. He is an Irish Wolfhound and he was very shaken.

So, after I took my son to school that morning, I decided to look for tracks in the snow to see if I could find out what it was that scared him. This is when I found some unusual tracks, lots of them, like the ones we had seen on our property a year ago. So I took video, and a couple of still shots. And then I called Jim Thompson to come and look at them.

ALSO NOTICED: A few days before we heard a very loud whistle-like howl. It was not a coyote or fox.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just my dog and I. My mother and I were up working in our house.

OTHER STORIES: My neighbor used to always say that she seen something similar where she lives and a gentleman from the Cadiz Fire Department said that he had heard some of the same sounds as we had right nearby where we live.

ENVIRONMENT: In our backyard in melting snowy conditions.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator James Thompson:

I was introduced to the witness when she came to a local Bigfoot presentation put on by Marc DeWerth, Ohio BFRO curator at the Cadiz Public Library.

She brought with her two plaster casts that she had made of tracks she found in the snow. She did well even while casting in a poor environment like snow. The tracks did show detail of an adult and juvenile size print.

While the event occurred two months prior, by reviewing pictures of the adult track and the area where it was found, I was able to determine there was a stride of 5' between tracks.

I also found out that leading up to this incident, they had lost chickens and rabbits while they were safely penned up.

The chickens were kept in a 10' by 10' by 6' high dog pen with chicken wire fastened together with zip ties across the top of the pen to protect from hawks. The rabbits were in rabbit hutches placed inside a like structure. The hutches and both pens were secured with a dog clip on the door hasp's. The chicken pen was found with the door secure but the wire stretched across the top split open with the broken zip ties lying on the ground in the pen. All the chickens were missing. The rabbit pen was found with the clip removed from the door and the hutches with two rabbits missing. There was also a lot of rabbit fur on the ground in the pen.

As she further checked on her other animals she found her large 100 lb dog alive but refusing to come out of his dog house. The last animals she had to check on were her alpacas and sheep. She found them huddled against the back wall of their enclosure.

Since my first investigation of the property began, there have been a couple more incidents that occurred. A year ago I was called to the property to look at some tracks in the snow, these were found to be of an indeterminate source, the snow had melted away too much detail.

This month marks the anniversary of the first incident. I showed up to place cameras on the property on Jan 13, 2020. When she came to the door she asked me if someone had called me to come over. I replied nope, why? The night before, she was taking her two dogs out to do their business. One dog ran back inside, the other was on a leash and as she was bent down struggling to fasten its collar to the tie out line, she looked over to see something crouching 30 yards away. It suddenly stood up and took off running. She described it as black with 2 massive legs, It brushed by a pine tree branch that I measured at 8 ft. off the ground. I investigated the area in all directions but could not find evidence of any identifiable prints in the hard soil.

The property is just blow a ridge line and the area around and below are heavily wooded. Along the bottom of the property is a creek that flows into larger ones and then the Ohio river 25 miles away. There are large tracks of wooded area of over 1500 acres that are inaccessible to the public due to private ownership along with large tracks of coal company property.

I have found by talking to local residents that there are past incidents that have very strange circumstances.

About BFRO Investigator James Thompson:

Jim served as a Marine Corps helicopter engine mechanic / air crewman for 24 years. He recently retired as a County Veterans Service Officer. He is a lifetime hunter and outdoorsman. Jim has attended expeditions in Ohio during 2019, 21 & 22.