1 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,439 Speaker 1: I grew up in Colorado and I'm a proud member 2 00:00:09,599 --> 00:00:14,519 of the Muscalero Apache tribe. I grew up hunting elk, deer, 3 00:00:14,759 --> 00:00:18,120 and bear in the mountains, but I've had the privilege 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,600 of hunting all over the United States. I served eight 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,679 years as an infantryman in the US Army, and I 6 00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:28,399 have three tours in the box. I've seen all sorts 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,399 of things that would be hard to explain for anyone, 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,280 but I'd like to focus this letter on the events 9 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:38,399 that happened right here in my home state. Growing up 10 00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:41,880 as a backcountry hunter and fishermen, I always strive to 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,600 get off the beaten path. Our elk camp is a 12 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:48,520 six mile walk, and we hunt even further than that. 13 00:00:49,679 --> 00:00:52,399 My father and grandfather had a lot of stories that 14 00:00:52,439 --> 00:00:55,840 we would talk about around the woodstove in our outfitter tent, 15 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,280 and I would hang on to every word of the 16 00:00:58,359 --> 00:01:02,719 stories because I thought that's just what they were stories 17 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,680 until I got older. One story that sticks out was 18 00:01:07,719 --> 00:01:11,959 one about a cow elk my grandfather shot in a snowstorm. 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,840 Grandpa hid her a little further back in the body 20 00:01:15,879 --> 00:01:18,760 than he would have liked, and she ran aways before 21 00:01:18,799 --> 00:01:21,480 they even picked up a blood trail, so they gave 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,599 her some time to die. It was easy to track 23 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,920 in the fresh powder, though. They followed the tracks four 24 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,599 hundred yards through the scrub oaks into the back of 25 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,599 a drainage, where they found the end print in the 26 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,760 shape of an elk, and the tracks stopped. What they 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,159 saw there scared the hell out of my grandfather. There 28 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,040 were big tracks with long strides that looked like something 29 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,959 walking in bare feet, coming down the ridge and onto 30 00:01:49,959 --> 00:01:52,760 the shelf, and then they went back up the ridge. 31 00:01:53,799 --> 00:01:56,680 Whatever this thing was, it had taken the elk and 32 00:01:56,799 --> 00:01:59,760 carried it back up the ridge. And that's one of 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,319 my grandfather's stories. But here's mine. I was hunting with 34 00:02:04,359 --> 00:02:07,840 my father five miles from where the last story took place. 35 00:02:08,719 --> 00:02:12,639 My father was a retired recon marine scout sniper. He 36 00:02:12,759 --> 00:02:15,520 was a Vietnam vet as well as a veteran of 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:20,159 desert storm and other conflicts. The third day of the hunt, 38 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,800 we walked into a large draw. The dad went up 39 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,840 into the black timber and then eventually broke out into 40 00:02:26,879 --> 00:02:30,439 a large boulder field on top. I went up the 41 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:34,199 other side that overlooked a large meadow surrounded by aspen 42 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,199 and I could see my father one hundred yards from 43 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,240 the top of the ridge and a thousand yards from me. 44 00:02:40,479 --> 00:02:43,960 As the crow flies, he was three hundred feet above 45 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,439 my elevation. Later in the day, I was daydreaming, not 46 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,800 really paying attention to my surroundings, when I heard a 47 00:02:51,879 --> 00:02:55,400 thump to my left, and then I heard the report 48 00:02:55,439 --> 00:02:58,319 of a rifle. Well. I instantly came out of the 49 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,919 days that I was in and I started looking around frantically. 50 00:03:02,319 --> 00:03:05,080 I thought someone was shooting at me. And then there 51 00:03:05,159 --> 00:03:08,240 was another thump. This time I saw the round hit 52 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,360 the ground in the same spot. I looked through my 53 00:03:11,479 --> 00:03:13,879 rifle scope at my dad, who was still in the 54 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,120 same spot, and he was pointing to my left. I 55 00:03:18,159 --> 00:03:22,360 looked over that way and I froze. Fifty yards away 56 00:03:22,599 --> 00:03:27,479 and up that endcline stood a sasquatch. Dad watched it 57 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,120 come in on me. I never noticed it. It was 58 00:03:31,159 --> 00:03:34,280 covered in black and reddish hair, and it looked at 59 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:38,240 me with a young and curious face with beautiful amber 60 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,560 colored eyes. It was most certainly a female, standing seven 61 00:03:42,639 --> 00:03:46,479 feet tall. She was staring right at me, not in 62 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,199 a threatening way. Maybe she had never seen a person. 63 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,960 We stared at one another for a while, and she 64 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,199 would watch my movements, turning and cocking her head. She 65 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,439 was mimicking me. I finally backed away down the draw 66 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,000 and I met my father at the trail. We didn't 67 00:04:06,039 --> 00:04:08,520 talk about it much, but when I asked him why 68 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,120 he didn't shoot her, he said he wasn't sure his 69 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,560 seven mag had the power that it would take to 70 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,920 put her down in her tracks, that he wanted to 71 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,839 draw my attention to the creature while he had her 72 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,279 in his scope. If she had made an aggressive mood 73 00:04:23,319 --> 00:04:27,079 towards me, he had my back. But instead of shooting 74 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,879 and seeing that she seemed none threatening, he just watched 75 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:37,000 through the scope as we interacted. I grew up along 76 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,720 the banks of the Wabash River, and even though I'm 77 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,079 a female, I was a bit of a tomboy. I 78 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,639 spent a lot of days by myself fishing and hunting 79 00:04:45,639 --> 00:04:48,319 in the woods across from my house that was about 80 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,480 a block from the river. I'd wander all through the 81 00:04:51,519 --> 00:04:54,399 woods and along the deer trails, looking and listening for 82 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:59,000 critters or animals. Sometimes I'd just sit on the banks 83 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,079 and watch the waterflow by watching the cranes on the 84 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,360 sandbars et cetera. And one day I saw a pair 85 00:05:05,399 --> 00:05:07,959 of beaver there floating on their backs like they were 86 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,959 so happy with not a care in the world. Do 87 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,079 beavers do that? Do beavers float on their backs? I 88 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,319 guess they do. I've never seen one do it. I 89 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,839 was very quiet so as not to scare them away, 90 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,800 and they played there for ten minutes and then moved on. 91 00:05:23,759 --> 00:05:26,759 So to me, being in the woods or along the river, heck, 92 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,920 even swimming in it almost daily was a common thing. 93 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,360 I never did see or feel anything out of the 94 00:05:33,399 --> 00:05:36,600 way in all the years growing up down there, not 95 00:05:36,879 --> 00:05:43,040 until several years later. It was somewhere around nineteen seventy 96 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,800 six or thereabout, when I lived in the same house, 97 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,000 our old homestead, and I had a family of my 98 00:05:49,199 --> 00:05:53,240 own that I saw them. At the time that this 99 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,560 encounter happened, my husband and three kids were inside watching 100 00:05:56,639 --> 00:06:00,560 TV after we'd eat and supper. I cleaned up the 101 00:06:00,639 --> 00:06:02,879 kitchen and then told my husband that I'd be back 102 00:06:02,879 --> 00:06:05,199 in to watch TV with them all, but that I 103 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,079 had to get the laundry in off the clothesline first 104 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,639 and fold it and put it away. That's how I 105 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,120 did things back then, because even though we had a 106 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,319 clothes dryer. I liked the fresh smell of clothes that 107 00:06:17,399 --> 00:06:21,439 had been hung on the clothesline. Back then, we used 108 00:06:21,439 --> 00:06:23,959 to burn our trash in an old fifty five gallon 109 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,160 used barrel out back in the alley after supper, so 110 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,759 as I started to go outside, I told the kids 111 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,199 to get that chore done. As I was taking the 112 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,680 clothes down from the clothesline, it was summertime and it 113 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,560 was warm outside. As usual, the two oldest kids didn't 114 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:42,639 want to burn the trash, so they told the youngest 115 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,079 one to do it. He was seven years old and 116 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,680 I was close by, so I wasn't worried about him 117 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,720 lighting the trash. This kid was smart too. He was 118 00:06:52,759 --> 00:06:56,079 a great kid and very reliable. Even so I still 119 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,480 watched him closely. I forgot to mention that the park 120 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,959 was on the next block to the south of my house, 121 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,319 and it had toys for kids to play on, a 122 00:07:06,319 --> 00:07:09,959 boat dock, and a baseball diamond in which many teams played. 123 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,319 This baseball park was complete with a red block concession 124 00:07:14,399 --> 00:07:16,680 stand in which they had all kinds of goodies that 125 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,720 they made and sold there, such as sodas and pizzas 126 00:07:19,759 --> 00:07:23,079 and hot dogs and such. Just all kinds of stuff. 127 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,639 There were also two or three large metal barrels on 128 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,199 the side of the concession stand for people to throw 129 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,759 their trash and half eating food in. Let me say 130 00:07:32,759 --> 00:07:35,480 here that these barrels of trash and half eating goodies 131 00:07:35,519 --> 00:07:37,800 were facing my house to where I could see them 132 00:07:37,839 --> 00:07:42,720 clearly from my backyard. I was taking my laundry down 133 00:07:42,759 --> 00:07:45,079 off the clothes lines, and I had stripped the bedding 134 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,319 and had two lines full of sheets and light blankets 135 00:07:48,399 --> 00:07:51,920 and pillowcases too, that were all moving and blowing in 136 00:07:51,959 --> 00:07:55,519 the light wind. I was grabbing at the clothes trying 137 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,959 to take the clothes pins off and get them back 138 00:07:57,959 --> 00:08:01,120 into the bag, when my youngest son, Shane, who was 139 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,120 supposed to be burning the trash by the road, came 140 00:08:04,199 --> 00:08:07,279 running up to me and he started yanking on my shirt. 141 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,279 He was scared and his eyes were big, and when 142 00:08:10,279 --> 00:08:13,600 I looked at him, I said, what's the matter, and 143 00:08:13,639 --> 00:08:17,279 he whispered to me with his finger to his mouth, shush, mom, 144 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,360 come here, come here with me. I want to show 145 00:08:19,399 --> 00:08:22,959 you something, but you have to be real quiet. He 146 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,879 took my hand and he was shaking, and we walked 147 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:28,319 back down the alley road where We had been going 148 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,800 to light the trash when he stopped and whispered to 149 00:08:31,839 --> 00:08:35,919 me and pointed to the concession stand, saying, look at them, Mommy, 150 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:39,879 what are those things? Well? I looked, and I froze 151 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:42,759 for a second, and I told him, in a hushed voice, 152 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,279 run in the house, hurry up, and tell your daddy 153 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:50,399 that there are two bigfoot out here. He did like 154 00:08:50,519 --> 00:08:52,840 I told him, and I watched him for a second, 155 00:08:53,159 --> 00:08:56,960 and then I looked back for the bigfoot. I remembered 156 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,240 my mother telling me about my grandfather seeing one of 157 00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:03,600 these things years ago in a holler getting water from 158 00:09:03,639 --> 00:09:05,639 his spring he had in the side of the hill. 159 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,720 But I never believed in them before, so when I 160 00:09:09,759 --> 00:09:14,480 looked at these things, it was almost in disbelief. As 161 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,600 soon as I looked at them the second time, after 162 00:09:16,639 --> 00:09:19,440 my son had left with the house, all sorts of 163 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,759 things were running through my mind, thinking that this was 164 00:09:23,799 --> 00:09:26,600 not happening, that this was not real. And then I 165 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:31,080 pinched myself and oh, yes, it was real. They were 166 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,559 both huge, and they were covered in dark brown black hair, 167 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,600 and the largest one was all bent over, digging in 168 00:09:37,639 --> 00:09:41,399 the metal barrels of trash of that concession stand. And 169 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,840 he was handing stuff out to the other one, who 170 00:09:43,919 --> 00:09:47,960 I think was a female because she was smaller, I 171 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,360 could tell the big one was a male. And she says, lol, 172 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,639 and not from the obvious method, but rather from looking 173 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,519 at his face and the build of his body. Okay, 174 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,679 I thought she was gonna say something else. He was 175 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,480 way bigger than she was, and the muscles rippled, and 176 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,840 his arms and upper body were huge. But here's the thing. 177 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,679 When I looked at them both. This all happened in 178 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,320 a minute or so because he was so intent on 179 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,480 digging through those trash cans that they did not see 180 00:10:16,519 --> 00:10:18,919 me until I opened up my mouth as I was 181 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,720 looking them, and I uttered, oh shit, they're real. Oh 182 00:10:22,759 --> 00:10:27,120 my god. When I said that, he stood up and 183 00:10:27,159 --> 00:10:30,200 locked eyes with me. I was looking him straight in 184 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,559 the face, even though I was probably a half a 185 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,240 block away, but my eyesight was sharp and very good, 186 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,679 and I was in my twenties at the time, but 187 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,399 I could see them both standing there now, And like 188 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,519 I said, he looked right at me and we locked eyes, 189 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,679 and my mind went wild, as I have stated, and 190 00:10:48,759 --> 00:10:52,159 a thousand thoughts were running through my head. Oh yeah, 191 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,720 he's real. They're real. Oh, look at the size of 192 00:10:54,759 --> 00:10:57,200 those things. How can this be? They really are real? 193 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,320 And then as I was looking in his eyes, I 194 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,799 thought to myself how much he looked like a human 195 00:11:02,919 --> 00:11:06,159 right in the face. He didn't have scary eyes like 196 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,559 they say on TV, and he did not look like 197 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,919 an ape either. To me, he looked so much of 198 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,440 what I had heard of of the Neanderthal men. He 199 00:11:16,519 --> 00:11:19,720 had human eyes, a human nose, and yes, his nose 200 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,320 was very large. His whole head and body was large. 201 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,000 But what I'm saying here is is that his nose 202 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,480 did not look or resemble an ape or a monkey's 203 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,399 now it looked like a human being's nose, although it 204 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,919 was a pretty good sized honker. The only thing that 205 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,240 was sort of out of place was his brow bone, 206 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,399 and it was very large and pronounced. And when he 207 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,879 looked at me, it was as though he had me 208 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,679 in some sort of a mental trance to where I 209 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,320 could not tear my eyes from his until he willed it. 210 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,159 I couldn't leave, and I couldn't look away, and I 211 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,200 couldn't run to the house, which is what I desperately 212 00:11:57,279 --> 00:12:00,440 wanted to do because I was so scared. Yet he 213 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,200 held my gaze for what seemed like a minute, and 214 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,799 it seemed to me that he was picking or scanning 215 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,159 my mind to see what he wanted to see. And 216 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,720 then all at once he motioned to the smaller one, 217 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,679 and then he pointed to the river where the woods 218 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,440 were by the boat dock, and he gave out a whistle, 219 00:12:17,639 --> 00:12:22,039 and she followed his direct command to her. She took 220 00:12:22,039 --> 00:12:24,440 off running, and I could see her from the corner 221 00:12:24,519 --> 00:12:28,440 of my eye. He still held my gaze, and she 222 00:12:28,639 --> 00:12:31,480 was out of sight in just a few steps, and 223 00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:35,279 her steps were huge too, by the way. As soon 224 00:12:35,279 --> 00:12:37,200 as she was out of sight, he let go of 225 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,720 my gaze and he took off running in the same direction. 226 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,240 One thing I did notice was the hair on his 227 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,080 arms hung from the bottom side of his arms, and 228 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,720 they were five or six inches long the hair was 229 00:12:49,279 --> 00:12:51,639 and I thought that looked odd. And then I thought 230 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,279 to myself, Oh my god, what if those things, as 231 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,679 fast as they are, come up that river bank through 232 00:12:56,679 --> 00:12:59,720 the woods to my driveway where I'm standing. What if 233 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,879 they came out of the woods and grabbed me. And 234 00:13:01,919 --> 00:13:04,600 I was so scared then that I ran quickly back 235 00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:07,639 into my yard. But I did have the senses to 236 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,279 think about the laundry in which I had to have 237 00:13:10,399 --> 00:13:12,840 the sheets and betting for my kids back on them 238 00:13:12,879 --> 00:13:16,360 before bedtime. And I must have been so rattled in 239 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,399 my thinking because I should have run right into the 240 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:23,080 house instead. I grabbed and yanked the rest of the 241 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,120 sheets off the clothesline, and I grabbed my laundry basket, 242 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,519 and I ran as fast as I could into the house, 243 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:30,919 and I threw down the basket and I locked the 244 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,440 door even through the dead bowl. I was so shaken, 245 00:13:35,639 --> 00:13:38,200 and I ran into the living room where my husband 246 00:13:38,279 --> 00:13:42,279 and two oldest kids were still watching TV. The youngest 247 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,399 one that had seen the Bigfoot too, was sitting there 248 00:13:44,399 --> 00:13:46,559 on the couch, crying his little eyes out because he 249 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,200 said to me, Mommy, they wouldn't listen to me about 250 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,240 the bigfoot and they told me to shut up. Well, 251 00:13:52,279 --> 00:13:54,679 I asked my husband why he had not come outside, 252 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:56,120 and he told me that it was all just a 253 00:13:56,159 --> 00:13:58,879 bunch of bullshit because there was no such thing as 254 00:13:58,879 --> 00:14:02,960 a bigfoot. I told him what had happened, and then 255 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,559 him and the other kids they just all laughed at 256 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,360 me and my youngest son. They tease Shane so bad. 257 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,919 Over the next few months that he completely blocked it 258 00:14:11,919 --> 00:14:14,679 out of his memory, and he does not even remember 259 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,600 it now. But I'm a diehard, and they could not 260 00:14:17,759 --> 00:14:20,360 make me forget what I had seen and not what 261 00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:24,519 I had felt during this encounter. I know what I saw, 262 00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:27,360 and I have never doubted it in all these forty 263 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,360 six years. My mind as clear as the bell still. 264 00:14:31,559 --> 00:14:34,000 And this may go against many who say Bigfoot looks 265 00:14:34,039 --> 00:14:37,120 like a gorilla, but the two that I saw didn't. 266 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,679 They looked just like what they call a hairy man, 267 00:14:39,759 --> 00:14:42,240 and their hair was not around their eyes and nose, 268 00:14:42,799 --> 00:14:47,320 because his nose looked like w. C. Fields. We moved 269 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,159 to the country even further out away from the river 270 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,039 back in nineteen ninety eight. But we have a little 271 00:14:53,039 --> 00:14:55,159 creek in the woods behind our house now, and I 272 00:14:55,159 --> 00:14:58,440 have seen tracks back there, lots of deer back there, 273 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,200 plenty of water, and my son Shane, has seen barefoot 274 00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:05,799 tracks back by the creek. I cast one of those 275 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:10,360 footprints once with plaster of Paris, and the next morning 276 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,120 I was going back to get it and take it 277 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,639 up from the sand, and my grandson had already beaten 278 00:15:14,679 --> 00:15:17,720 me to it, even though I gave him orders the 279 00:15:17,799 --> 00:15:20,360 night before to leave it alone, that I would get 280 00:15:20,399 --> 00:15:22,840 it the next morning when I was good and set up. 281 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,360 He got up early and went to get it anyway, 282 00:15:25,559 --> 00:15:27,919 because he was almost twenty years old and that he 283 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,000 didn't have to listen to me any longer. So there 284 00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:33,159 he came with it in a plastic bag and he 285 00:15:33,279 --> 00:15:35,559 handed it to me, and it was all broken up 286 00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:38,799 in pieces. I had to throw it in the trash. 287 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,240 I felt like throwing him in the trash, but you 288 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,360 know how that goes, lol, she says, and then she 289 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,960 winds up and says, thank you so much, Cam for 290 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,759 taking your time to read this, and if you'd like 291 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,440 to have and if you'd like, you have my permission 292 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:59,039 to tell this story if it meets your specifications. I 293 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,879 was introduced to the world of the paranormal when I 294 00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:05,480 was five years old. I didn't understand it other than 295 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,399 I knew deep inside my gut that it was wrong 296 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,159 and terrifying. In two thousand and four, I had my 297 00:16:12,279 --> 00:16:15,639 fifth daughter at the age of forty and so technically 298 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,799 all her sisters were really old enough that they could 299 00:16:18,799 --> 00:16:22,519 pass as her mother. And when she was eight months old, 300 00:16:22,639 --> 00:16:27,399 Laura had her first epileptic seizure. They're not what folks 301 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,440 think of when you say the word epilepsy. Laura will 302 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,200 make a choking sound and her eyes will roll back, 303 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,120 and she goes limp, becoming pale while her lips turned blue. 304 00:16:38,799 --> 00:16:41,679 That we panic the first time we experienced one of 305 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:47,639 her seizures is a gross understatement. In twenty thirteen, we 306 00:16:47,679 --> 00:16:51,360 moved from California to Arkansas for a more peaceful life. 307 00:16:51,879 --> 00:16:54,440 We found a large, two story house built in the 308 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,919 eighteen hundreds that used to belong to the town doctor. 309 00:16:58,879 --> 00:17:01,679 It was large and ramble, with pocket doors in the 310 00:17:01,799 --> 00:17:05,599 parlor and a wraparound porch, and it was situated in 311 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,759 a beautiful, quaint old neighborhood. We knew it had recently 312 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,640 become empty because this town is small and gossip is huge, 313 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,440 and we had heard about a murder that had taken 314 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,000 place in the home some eight months earlier. It was 315 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:23,400 a sad story of an adopted son killing his mother, 316 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:29,400 and as usual, illegal drugs were involved. Before we could 317 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,759 move in, we needed to do a major cleanup. On 318 00:17:31,799 --> 00:17:35,839 the inside. It smelled of death and cat urine, among 319 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,200 other things. We had to bring in a machine that 320 00:17:39,279 --> 00:17:41,720 removes all the odors out of the oxygen, but the 321 00:17:41,799 --> 00:17:45,039 process was so toxic and no one could enter the 322 00:17:45,079 --> 00:17:49,200 home immediately after the application. Well, I was a lover 323 00:17:49,279 --> 00:17:52,839 of history and antiques, and I didn't want to replace anything, 324 00:17:53,519 --> 00:17:56,799 so the floors were only sanded and re stained and 325 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,720 fresh painted, and we loved it for a little while. 326 00:18:02,279 --> 00:18:06,119 My mother in law and my handicapped nephew lived with us, 327 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,400 and they used both of the downstairs bedrooms. My mother 328 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:12,599 in law would accuse me of being in her room, 329 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,920 while my nephew would ask about the name of the 330 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,359 cat the cat coming to his door at night. Though 331 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:20,960 we didn't own a cat and I had no interest 332 00:18:21,079 --> 00:18:24,440 in violating my mother in law's privacy by sneaking into 333 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:29,640 her bedroom, we considered the source. After a while, the 334 00:18:29,799 --> 00:18:33,759 arrangement started to grate on our nerves. My marriage became 335 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,440 terribly strained. The household seemed to exist under a cloud 336 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:42,079 of paranoia. I thought my mother in law and husband 337 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,079 were conspiring against me behind my back, and after a 338 00:18:45,079 --> 00:18:47,680 few months of this, I was ready to take my 339 00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:51,799 daughter and leave the state. But unbeknownst to me, my 340 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,960 mother in law got it in her head that my 341 00:18:54,079 --> 00:18:57,000 husband and I were doing the same to her and 342 00:18:57,039 --> 00:19:00,720 if that wasn't bad enough, my husband developed the drinking 343 00:19:00,759 --> 00:19:05,640 problem that began to escalate. One evening, while he was 344 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,559 asleep and I was reading in bed, there was a terrible, 345 00:19:08,599 --> 00:19:12,640 loud crash in my daughter's room. We instantly thought that 346 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,400 she was in the middle of a huge grandma seizure. 347 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,000 I took one giant leap and two steps to throw 348 00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:23,200 open Laura's door, with my husband trailing behind me, and 349 00:19:23,279 --> 00:19:26,920 Laura was standing at her closet door across the room 350 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,559 with a look of sheer terror on her face. And 351 00:19:30,599 --> 00:19:34,240 next to her bed was her wicker dressing table, the 352 00:19:34,319 --> 00:19:37,279 lamp swinging over the edge with a cord still plugged 353 00:19:37,319 --> 00:19:41,319 in behind the dresser. There was a stream of body 354 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,319 powder leading from the dresser to the closet, and furniture 355 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,440 had been cast about the room. We had a family 356 00:19:49,519 --> 00:19:52,480 meeting the next night, where all the rage and emotional 357 00:19:52,599 --> 00:19:56,880 venom that had been building for months finally exploded. We 358 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,720 were realizing that before we had taken up residence in 359 00:19:59,799 --> 00:20:04,359 this house, we had all gotten along fine. Was there 360 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,920 a curse on this place? Once all the adults in 361 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,440 the room had aired their grievances, my husband excused himself 362 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,359 to check on our nephew, and a minute later I 363 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,400 heard him cry out, and by the time we reached 364 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,000 my nephew's room, I was horrified to see my husband 365 00:20:22,079 --> 00:20:25,839 trying to hold upright a loaded down seven foot bookcase 366 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,519 that was threatening to fall on top of my nephew 367 00:20:28,559 --> 00:20:33,400 in his wheelchair. I quickly wheeled my nephew from the room, 368 00:20:33,759 --> 00:20:36,720 and once clear, my husband let the massive bookcase go 369 00:20:36,839 --> 00:20:40,680 crashing to the floor. Well, this was the last straw 370 00:20:41,279 --> 00:20:44,079 the house was trying to kill us, if not literally 371 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:49,039 by breaking bones, psychologically by turning all of us against 372 00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:52,720 each other. We got my mother in law and nephew 373 00:20:52,839 --> 00:20:56,160 out within a week, but finances kept my husband and 374 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,279 I tethered to the place for another two months. Light 375 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,880 switch is going off and on in apparitions of toddlers 376 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,400 appearing in the hallways and around the doorframes. It's a 377 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:12,039 long list of crazy things. Every image seemed guaranteed to 378 00:21:12,039 --> 00:21:15,319 play out our worst spheares. We slept a lot at 379 00:21:15,319 --> 00:21:19,359 my mother in laws for those last few weeks. When 380 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,720 you tell a prospective home buyer that a place is haunted, 381 00:21:22,799 --> 00:21:26,359 they usually back away. Tell them there was a murder 382 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,680 in the house, and they will delete your number from 383 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,279 their cell phone. We were lucky enough to sell the 384 00:21:32,279 --> 00:21:34,720 place to a gentleman who didn't believe in ghosts and 385 00:21:34,759 --> 00:21:38,920 had no fear of older crime scenes. From time to 386 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,720 time I check on the real estate listings, and I'm 387 00:21:41,759 --> 00:21:44,799 not surprised to see that our former home was on 388 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,880 the market every few months. Thankfully, the house and all 389 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,720 its secrets are no longer our concern.