For 21 years, people have been telling me they’ve seen what they believe is Bigfoot around SE Wisconsin. Primate, not canine. Usually eight feet tall and 400-500 pounds. Flat-footed, bipedal, shaggy fur in either dark brown, reddish auburn, or light gray-beige. I’ve discussed many of these sightings in my books, and the witnesses keep coming.
A few weeks ago I heard from a Kenosha County woman and northern Illinois man who saw such a creature June 10, 2013 at a site in SE Wisconsin that I can’t disclose in deference to the property owner. On June 20, the same man was at the same place with two other people and they also all caught a glimpse of what appeared to be the same creature.
This video, alas, does NOT show the Bigfoot, but it features the first two witnesses on site, describing their experiences. Please keep in mind that the creature was in motion when they spotted it and that, between the two of them, they separately saw it doing several different things. There is also some reference to the other, later sightings which will all be more clear when I get the final report written up.
The video was made by my friend and colleague Jay Bachochin of the WPI or Wisconsin Paranormal Investigators at http://www.WPIhuntsthetruth.com. I called on Jay and fellow member Al Dunski to collaborate with me on this field investigation, and the video also takes you along with us as we scout the area and retrieve a trail cam (which came up empty, as often happens). We hope to keep filming as the investigation progresses and we continue to survey the area, place trail cams and search the fields for footprints and other possible evidence. As you can see, it’s a rural area, mostly farm fields but with some nearby water and plenty of game (watch for the shot of the generous dollop of deer scat). Perhaps most importantly, it is also the site of previous cryptid encounters by unrelated individuals.
Just to be clear, there’ll be no brandishing of rifles, no crazy cage contraptions, not even a weird noise in the distance, just us starting our actual investigation. (I did almost fall into a pond but Jay didn’t film it because he stopped filming to help save me from a dunking.) So please enjoy the scenery as we lay the groundwork, and who knows what may happen next time out as we interview the second set of witnesses!
Lindagodfrey's Blog 
Hi Cass, it truly is a terrible and shocking thing that has occurred with these young girls in Waukesha. However, watching them on television, listening to their friends’ perceptions of them as disturbed (one described them as outcasts), reading their chillingly detached accounts of stabbing their “friend,” hints that they were already in deep psychological distress. The people around them who might have helped — family, teachers, other friends — evidently had no idea how deeply involved the two girls were with this idea of a violent, faceless anti-hero. I believe these girls would have found some outlet for their problems even if this web site (which I wasn’t aware of and have never visited) hadn’t been there. It reminds me of the Milwaukee incident some years ago of two other disturbed young women, roommates, who were obsessed with Jack the Ripper and lured a young man into their apartment bathroom where they killed him in the shower. They called it “kacking” to honor their idol, who in this case was a mysterious but all-too-real serial killer. I agree that those who research and write about unexplained phenomena of all types — a pursuit which has little or nothing to do with the writing of horror fiction — do have an obligation to be clear about what’s fact, what’s anecdotal and what’s conjecture. But I don’t see any real correlation between that sort of investigatory research and people (of any age) who fixate upon and imitate violent characters, real or imagined. I’m just so very thankful that the victim in the Waukesha case has survived, although I’m sure the emotional scars will always be there. And I think parents should be closely monitoring not only what their children watch and interact with, but how their kids are feeling about those things.
I am writing this in June and I am beginning to worry about the dangers of blogging about cryptids. We all sat and watched with amused expressions as the fictional tales about the character known as “Slenderman” grew and developed and, eventually, began to blur the line between fact and fiction. Between reality and psychosis. Some even suggesting that the continued manufacture of tales (and even purported photos) of this COPYRIGHTED character might be creating a “Tulpa”.
Philosophical speculation is SO much fun, isn’t it?
And now two twelve year old girls are charged with stabbing their friend 19 times in order to gain favor with “Slenderman.” A being that doesn’t exist.
I think it is time that all of us who love to speculate about what MAY be out there take a step back and announce what scientific evidence we actually have that ANYTHING is out there and make sure we clearly label speculation for what it is. This is especially true of the UFO crowd who produce books about things like “undersea bases off Southern California” as though the aliens run guided tours of them (they are closed on Christmas, btw).
I was watching a child psychologist being interviewed on KARE 11 about this case and he said he “didn’t want to try and guess what was in the minds of the two girls” and I thought,: “What an idiot! We KNOW what was in their minds…they told us…they needed to kill their friend so they could go live in Slenderman’s Forest Mansion.
In other words. they were making a human sacrifice in order to gain a boon from a perceived deity. This is how religions begin. This is why we need to make DAMN sure that science (and not belief) is at the core of our investigations!
There cannot be a Bigfoot in Wisconsin. No way!
You’re welcome, Michael, and thanks so much for the VERY interesting supportive information. Not surprisingly, there have been recent dogman sightings and footprints in a similar area near there. Great to know the proper ecological terms!
Linda, thanks for this report and video. And please thank your friends of the WPI. Good work. I have added their YouTube channel to my research files and look forward to viewing past recordings.
There are two points of interest, in terms of ecological characteristics, that I would like to mention, just fyi to anyone concerned. First, the landscape patch for which these events are reported is what would be called a “woodlot line corridor” or “woodlot strip corridor”, depending on whether it separates two other landscape patches or connects two islands of forest. Both of these landscape features are important for local environments as wildlife corridors, which enable species to pass from forest island to forest island along a safe, covered, resource-rich path. This also enriches those species gene pools, providing wider connections between populations that would otherwise be isolated.
Second, the area you describe here and in the video is what is known as an “ecotone”. Ecotones are environments that are transitions between two other distinct environments, such as, in this case, woodlot and cultivated field. Wildlife like ecotones because they typically have the best of both worlds, and are richer in resources than either of the environments they separate, and because they are meeting places for prey and predators. Ecotones have been important in prehuman evolution for the same reasons, and prehuman hominins frequented them.
Anyway, thank you again for reporting.
Reblogged this on Armchair Bigfooter.
u people have to better than that to get me to believe in big foot and I want to believe! yeah I know the truth is out there somewhere!
No, Corrine, it’s a different investigation but not all that far away. They may indeed like the same type of territory and they definitely both like deer! I have a feeling they don’t like each all all that much, however.
to dhfabian: That area of Jefferson County has quite a few Bigfoot sightings that I know of, and dating back to the 60s. If any of those people you know are still around, please have them contact me!
good video, source seems to be solid, description spot-on like many other sightings.
We had a farm in Jefferson Co. in the 1970s/’80s. There was a lot of talk around 1980 about sitings of a Bigfoot-type creature being spotted (several times) near Highway 18, in the area from Jefferson to Helenville. I never personally saw it, or any evidence of it, but some reputable people did swear they saw what appeared to be a dark-colored (brown or black) Bigfoot in the area.
Hi Linda,
I am curious..is this the same site as the upright canine sightings & investigation you have been working on? I am FASCINATED by that investigation. It is interesting that bigfoot & bipedal canines are sometimes spotted in same area, since both hunt deer. But I am applying normal predator behavior to unknown cryptids. Wow maybe they are buddies…..