YEAR: 1993

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: February

DATE: satureday

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Berrien County

LOCATION DETAILS: take warren woods road out of Buchanan to Boyallake rd. go right on boyallake rd to 15001 address and then walk across the st. back into the woods about a qaurted of a mile to pond

NEAREST TOWN: Niles/Buchanan Mi.

NEAREST ROAD: Boye Lake rd.

OBSERVED: My dog had come up missing and I heard him barking far away and kept on calling him. We lived in a very wooded area, so his barking was hard to hear. When I found him, he was on a beaver dam in the middle of a pond. I never told this to anyone, not even my wife. It just seemed so unreal. When I saw my dog, he was looking to his right and that is when I saw a figure some seven to eight feet tall. it stood there for what seemed minutes, but was most likely only seconds.
It was very muscular and I knew what it was and only could be. A bigfoot? It couldn't be, but it had to be. We don't have bears this far south in michigan. Anyway, it ran off, away, from me and was gone so fast I even doubted if it was even there in the first place. It was in the dead of winter and I had a very hard time getting my dog, a german shepard to come off the beaver dam. We walked back to our house and I never told anyone about this.
My wife had seen a cougar cross the road in front of her three days before that and I ripped her about seeing things, so there was no way I was going to tell her this. That is about it. Really nothing else to tell, thanks for listening. I am interested in more research or being part of any research. It has really peaked my interest since this happened to me. Now I dig up anything I can.

ALSO NOTICED: no

OTHER WITNESSES: no

OTHER STORIES: well there was some time ago when a police officer saw a creature cross the road in front of him by the wmca it was noted in papers i was about 11yrs old at the time and i am now 57 there was also a report north of here in somerville mi

TIME AND CONDITIONS: it was morning around nine o'clock it was also cloudy

ENVIRONMENT: woods orchards both peach and apples some small ponds and creeks

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Don Peer:

I spoke via telephone to the witness. He sounded sincere and did not want to elaborate any more than what he actually seen. He stated that while looking for his dog, which ran into the woods, he came upon the pond which his dog was standing on top of on the ice, which was thin and starting to crack. His dog was frantically whining and barking. The witness looked and seen what at first appeared to be dark bushes, but the more he looked at it, it appeared to be the outline of a person. He only looked at it for 5 to 10 seconds at a distance of approximately 40 feet. The area was very dense thickets and brush.

After a few seconds, the figure turned and took two steps and disappeared into the brush. At first the witness was not sure what he had seen and he described himself as an avid hunter that is familiar with all local wildlife. When it turned he could make out a shoulder, one arm and the head. At first he thought it may have been a hunter in camo, but the size, along with the dark color and the fact that they did not say anything, made him think otherwise. The sheer size made a person seem unlikely. He then retrieved his dog from the frozen pond and went back to the spot of the sighting. His dog refused to go near the spot. The woods and pond are behind a large orchard of apple and peach trees with dense brush, creeks and ponds. The witness said there are large populations of deer and turkeys in the area.

About BFRO Investigator Don Peer:

Don Peer lives in northern Michigan and has studied the bigfoot phenomenon all his life. He has attended numerous Michigan expeditions and co-organized the 2011 Michigan BFRO expedition. He is an avid outdoorsman and works for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Don Peer may be contacted at [email protected]