Class 1d Encounter Report in Pleasant Hill, LA, Case #04080003

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Class 1a
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1a A sasquatch/bigfoot specimen has been collected (alive or dead).
Class 1b
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1b A report investigation results in a sasquatch observation or the documentation of clear tracks or other forms of physical evidence by an investigator.
Class 1c
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1c An investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot by a very reliable observer is a distinct possibility, tangible corroborating evidence is documented, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 1d
Class 1, Corroboration: Reports involving a sighting, and accompanied by another form of support.
1d A visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility involving two or more reliable observers, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 2
Class 2, Competency: Reports involving sightings by professionally trained or highly skilled observers.
2 Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is exceptionally trustworthy, professionally trained, and experienced in the outdoors and/or is accustomed to looking for and recording details (e.g., biologist, anthropologist/archaeologist, ranger, trapper/tracker/seasoned hunter, bird watcher, game warden, naturalist, law enforcement), and other explanations can be reasonably excluded.
Class 3a
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3a Investigator determines that a visual encounter with a sasquatch/bigfoot is a distinct possibility, the observer is credible, and all other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3b
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3b Unidentifiable vocalizations were reported and there is accompanying tangible evidence to possibly indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot, the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.
Class 3c
Class 3, Credibility: Sightings or possible wood ape evidence reported by credible witnesses.
3c No visual encounter occurred, but physical evidence was found to indicate the presence of a sasquatch/bigfoot (tracks, hair, scat, etc.), the observer is very reliable, and other sources can be reasonably ruled out.


Case: 04080003

Class 1d

Mother and two daughters experience road encounter near Toledo Bend Reservoir.

Report Details

Occurrence date: April/1998
Location: Sabine Parish County, LA
Nearby/Vicinity: Pleasant Hill
Time / Conditions: 00:00 — Nighttime, near midnight.
# of Witnesses: 1

Witness Account:
My husband and I do Civil War reenacting. Pleasant Hill, Louisiana has an annual event which we attend regularly. The time of my incident was in the Spring (April) of 1998. I had chosen not to camp out that year because I had my two young daughters with me. I had booked a motel room in Mansfield, Louisiana which is a good 30 minute drive from where the camp site was located. I had left Pleasant Hill about 11:30 or so on a Saturday Night. The highway between Mansfield and Pleasant Hill was then very wooded on each side with many bends in the road. I would guess I was going about 55 at most with my high beams on. As I came around one of the bends and my lights hit "something" on the side of the road that seemed to be sitting next to a dead fall of trees. My first thought was there is a man sitting next to the road and I slowed down thinking someone was hurt. Looking closer it appeared to me that the arms were going in an up and down motion and was holding something in it's lap. My impression was of a killing motion and that caused me to become somewhat hesitant. Then the head turned and the reflection of the eyes changed my initial thought from man to animal. I've tried to remember exactly the reflective color and it seems they were a yellowish-white color. I could not see a face or even the shape of the head clearly but the body reflected a silver gray color and looked like hair or fur. I knew then for sure it was an animal and I sped up to pass it quickly. I noticed as I passed that it rocked back on it's haunches (like a man would do) holding whatever it had in it's arms up against its body. I turned away because I was certain then I didn't want to see whatever it was stand up. I wish I could say exactly how long I looked at the creature, but 30 seconds would be my guess. Far less than a full minute. My girls who were with me also saw the animal and exclaimed "Mom what was that?" I was very scared and my dog who was in the backseat started to growl and his hackles were raised. I attribute his reaction more to his perceived fear in myself and the children than anything else. I was searching for something to tell them and knew whatever it may be it was too large for a dog, coyote or even a wolf. But I settled on a wolf to calm the fears of my girls and myself. I've since learned that wolves have not been in that area for many many years. This was the topic of conversation back to the hotel, yet in my mind I couldn't be satisfied with any logical explanations. The next day we left to go back for my husband. I stopped near a deadfall by the road that looked right. I looked around briefly and didn't see anything immediately, but I can't be sure I was in the right spot. There are many bends in the road and it was dark that night. I didn't think to fix any landmarks at the time. I hadn't planned on sharing this story, but in the light of day my children deemed this a grand adventure and so told my husband. He seemed to think I was a bit nuts. Since then I've told other friends who had heard similar stories from East Texas which isn't far from the part of Louisiana where we were.

I've been back to Pleasant Hill every year since that experience. The landscape has changed quite a bit as they are in the process of clearing a lot of the wooded area. I believe the lumbering process was going on even then. The clearings are highly visible now from the road. The woods were the same piney type woods you'd find in East Texas.
I suspect there are a few farms, but mainly in the areas we've been it's mostly piney woods, until recently.

Physical evidence:
It was a man shaped animal sitting back on it's haunches with something in it's arms. Although I couldn't see the head or face the eyes reflected like an animal's would. As my lights passed over it I could make out a silverish-gray type fur. It started to rise but I sped away before I could see whether it left on two legs or all four.

Hand/foot prints:
I could find no evidence later. Admittedly I didn't spend very much time looking. By this time I was feeling a bit foolish and wasn't sure if I was at the right bend in the road.

Sounds:
We had the windows rolled up and music on. I didn't dare roll them down for a listen. Doubt I even thought of it

Additional observations:
I don't remember smelling anything out of the ordinary

Investigator's Observations

Investigator(s): Charles DeVore

This investigation was conducted as a result of a reported incident that allegedly occurred in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, April 1998.

I spoke at length with the witness about the reported incident, 19 August 2003. I found the witness to have a very sharp memory of the event even though the event occurred in 1998. She seemed open and sincere, and seemingly answered all my questions without deviation from the original report.

Her children were five and seven years old at the time so could not be of any help in the descriptions. She was en route to Mansfield, Louisiana from Pleasant Hill on Highway 175 around 11:30 pm. She was leaving the Pleasant Hill Civil War Reenactment site going to the nearest motel in the area in Mansfield.

Upon rounding one of the many curves, while driving approximately 55 mph, she noticed by the side of road what at first thought was a man squatting down. Her first reaction was to apply the brakes, thinking someone was in trouble. At this time she noticed the subject's arms "flailing up and down as if beating on something" and its head looked her way causing a "yellowish-white" color reflection. Knowing that human eyes do not reflect, she was hit with instant fear; while it had the shape of a man, it seemed to be covered with "silver-gray colored fur." Its arms were as "big as a person's arms" and did not fit any animal that she knew of. It pulled whatever it was beating on to its chest with both arms and rocked back as if to stand up. The witness remembered speeding up and then leaving "without looking back."

The next day, upon returning to Pleasant Hill, the witness stopped at the area she thought she had seen the subject the night before. She could not find any blood or sign of any large animal. She was not sure that she was in the right location as all the terrain in that area was about the same and everything looks a little different in the day light compared to night.

She and her family return to Pleasant Hill every year for the yearly Civil War Reenactment and have not seen or heard of anything of that description since. All the area between the two towns has changed due to heavy timber cutting so it is impossible to pinpoint exact location. Basically she thinks she was closer to Mansfield than Pleasant Hill.

The Area: Checking the maps, there are several major creeks & bayous crossing that stretch of highway and many smaller creeks. All the waterways connect to Toledo Bend Reservoir which runs the full length of that highway at a distance of approximately 15 miles west of highway 175.

There have been many reports of bigfoot activity along the Sabine River for several miles before it enters Toledo Bend Reservoir.

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