YEAR: 2025

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: Tuesday, Nov 18

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Smith County

LOCATION DETAILS: [ Investigator (MM) Notes:

GPS coordinates for where it was spotted:
32.603889, -95.578333

NEAREST TOWN: Garden Valley

NEAREST ROAD: State route FM 1253

OBSERVED: Hi, my husband is a belly dump semi truck driver in athens texas , he was on state route 1253 heading towards a 4 way stop garden valley as he was driving around 10am on November 18th it was a clear sunny morning he looked over into a clearing near a wooded area and saw a dark hairy man or something about 200 feet from the road walking at a steady pace with arms swaying beside its body the creature was about 6 foot or a little taller my husband was going about 60 miles an hour but slow enough to get a really good glimpse of whatever it was he didn't tell anyone at work because people really don't believe in sightings like this he just told me .the sighting is in smith county Texas the clearing had about three foot of dead grass and tall dense woods a joined the clearing area he didn't see any cloths on this creature and it didn't have anything in its hands Thier we're no cars or trucks near the area he asked himself many times if he really saw what he saw but it was clear as day and he still can't believe it after almost 50 years of over the road trucking this is the strangest thing he's ever seen if your organization has any questions feel free to contact him . Thank you, Patricia Yarian

[See 11/12/25 update below which includes the interview with the trucker witness]

ALSO NOTICED: No

OTHER WITNESSES: 1 person

OTHER STORIES: Just what's online

TIME AND CONDITIONS: In the morning around 10am clear and sunny

ENVIRONMENT: Clearing area going into a wooded area in the distance

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

This report had not yet been investigated when first posted. It was submitted by the wife of the witness and appeared legitimate. It was reported very shortly after the incident so it was appropriate to make it public while also making clear that it had not yet been checked out by an investigators.

Now it has been checked out by a couple of investigators. The investigation with the eyewitness truck driver suggests the classification should be upgraded from Class B (an unclear or very distant observation) to Class A (a clearer, closer observation, clear enough to eliminate other possibilties).

Texas bigfoot researcher Craig Woolheater heard about this incident from the wife of the trucker. He arranged for an interview with two of his researcher associates. Here are the notes from that interview.

__________________________________________

Interview of: Wayne Yarian (BFRO Report: 79470)

Date/Time of Interview: 11/22/2025/11:58 AM

Physical Location of Sighting: 32°36’14” N 95°34’42” W

Weather Conditions at Time of Sighting: Clear and Sunny

Date/Time of Sighting: 11/18/2025/2:00-2:30 PM

Interview by: Joel and Sheila Wade

Mr. Yarion provided the following: “As I’m traveling down to make a delivery in my semi, I was passing this open field, and I looked over and I saw a figure that was walking in the field about 200 feet off the roadway. It was walking toward a wooded area. It was walking at an average pace with purpose. It had long arms that hung down to about it’s knees. It was 6 to 7 feet possibly. It was a dark brown color, and noise of the road didn’t seem to scare it or spook it. It was walking at sort of a diagonal pace toward a wooded area from this open field. As I passed by, I was travelling at about 50 or 55 miles per hour, and there wasn’t really a place for me to stop.”

“I processed it in my mind, and all of the sudden I knew what I saw, and after talking with my wife later that day, she did some investigation and found out this is a very big hotbed area for sightings. So I was excited about what I saw and just wanted to share it with my wife.”

“It was large, 6… 6 to 7 plus feet, I would imagine. It had hair. It was a hairy creature… animal. Long arms. I couldn’t see it’s feet. It was in some grass about 2 feet. It was just walking with purpose. It’s arms were swinging, upright and headed toward the woods. It wasn’t black, but it was a dark brownish color and there were really no other distinctive features or markings on it.”

“It’s color was consistent. Dark from it’s head to where it’s legs went into the grass. It was pretty much all uniform dark, dark brown color, not all the way black, but dark and pretty much a uniform color.”

“When it walked, it swung it’s arms from side to side besides it’s body in a casual walk. It didn’t carry anything. It didn’t have anything in it’s hands, arms. They were just a normal stride walking across the field.”

“I saw it from about a ¾ view from it’s left side and the back as it walked away. It didn’t turn around and travelling at about 55 miles per hour, it didn’t take too long to pass by the field, but I probably saw it for probably 5 to 10 seconds. Long enough to know and realize what it was. I didn’t get at opportunity to see any kind of facial features.”

With regard to the hands, “The only thing I saw was the left hand. It looked like a dark brown pad on it’s palm area. That’s the only thing I could distinguish. It was a dark colored skin, like the pad of a dog’s foot, but larger… the hand sized. I couldn’t see it’s right arm because of the way it was walking and swinging.”

“It was taller than it was wide. I’m sure it wasn’t totally slender, but it had what I would consider an average size for it’s height. (In human terms) It had a muscular build, like a real tall football player. It did look muscular and tall.”



Interviewer Comments:

1) The location of the sighting is a large, open field along the west side of Texas Farm to Market (FM) Highway 1253, approximately 7.5 miles south of US Highway 80. Village Creek passes through the property within 200 yards of the sighting.

2) We were unable to enter or access the property as it is owned by a corporation in Dallas. We were able to make contact with the individual leasing the property. He stated there was no hunting on the property due to the cattle operations. He stated the tract was approximately 900 acres and part of a grouping of adjoining properties encompassing approximately 2800 acres. He stated the owners required very limited access to the properties so access to outsiders was out of the question. He also stated that he had never seen anything on the property like the subject the witness described.

3) A size comparison was performed using the approximate distance of the sighting. We conclude the subject observed was approximately 7 feet tall.

4) A brief search for tracks along the banks of Village Creek disclosed no findings.

5) A search for hair fibers along the property fenceline disclosed no findings.

6) The Witness stated the grass looked shorter than it had on the day of the sighting. Initially we believed the field may have been mowed, but we now believe the grass may have fallen over due to recent weather.

7) Apart from working as a truck driver for approximately 50 years, the Witness has served as a Volunteer Firefighter and was an Eagle Scout in his youth.

8) The Witness kept mentioning the length of the arms. “The hands hung to it’s knees.” His focus on this stand-out physical trait would explain his observation of the black floor of the palms of the hands.

9) His wife originally reported the sighting being at 10:00 AM, but the witness stated that she wasn’t correct about that and that it was closer to 2:00-2:30 PM.

10) The Witness’ truck is equipped with a Dash-Cam that was active. He will check with his Company Safety Manager on 11/24/2005 to see if the camera captured any details from the sighting.

11) The Witness was consistent with the details of his account, and while ample opportunity to embellish the account was available, the Witness did not do so. His responses to questions and challenges were accompanied by consistent and appropriate non-verbal communications that would suggest no deception; the Witness appears credible.

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This location was very close to a tributary of the Sabine River. That will mean something to bigfoot researchers in Texas.

Here are some other reports from that county:

SMITH COUNTY BIGFOOT REPORTS

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net

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