YEAR: 2021

SEASON: Summer

DATE: July 26

STATE: Virginia

COUNTY: Dickenson County

LOCATION DETAILS: You travel rt 83 east from clintwood Virginia about 2 miles then turn left on cranesnest river Rd. then travel appointmently 5 miles to the end of the road then it would be across the river.

[Investigator Note:
- Here are the coordinates: 37.174330, -82.399624
- Here is the map pin: Click here.
]

NEAREST TOWN: Clintwood

NEAREST ROAD: Cranesnest river road

OBSERVED: At around 11pm on July 26th my wife and I we're night fishing on the backwater of cranesnest river in Dickinson county Virginia. My wife's head was hurting so she decided to take a nap we had heard something large walking in the woods but wrote it off as a bear or deer as both are plentiful in our area. She had been asleep for about an hour when I heard a large knock about 50 yards up in the tree line then about 15 to 20 seconds later several hundred yards up the ridge there was another knock. Both sounded as if someone had taken a 4x4 post and struck a tree with it. Then about 10 min later there was a splash in the water about 20 feet away from our boat. This splash sounded like something weighing 20 or 30 lbs had struck the water waking my wife. It's not unusual to hear large fish jumping at night but this was different after the splash no more than a couple minutes had passed and there was 2 more knocks. And they were closer than the first one.

We pulled anchor reeled in our lines and as we were leaving we heard 2 more knocks. My wife said she heard the knocks up on the ridge but I didn't hear those, just the sound of a large animal walking up the river same way we were traveling as if it was following us. When it came to a shallow cove where it would have had to swim we stopped hearing the walking sounds.

This is the second time we encountered this animal we had an experience about a month and a half earlier we heard a big animal walking around and had big splashes in the water as if it were throwing things at us on that night as well.

OTHER WITNESSES: Brandy mullins

OTHER STORIES: We had an experience in late may early June in almost the same place just a couple hundred yards from where we were

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 11:30pm to 12am

ENVIRONMENT: Mountains trees and the lake are the only things around. About a quarter of a mile up the mountain is an old abandoned mines.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I spoke with the witness. He's a 47 year old carpenter. He sounds very credible. This is a location to check out soon if you have a boat and a thermal imager.

On Google Maps, Cranesnest River Road appears to terminate at a distance from the river. The witness says it is now blocked off where it bends away from the river, so the incident did occur approximately across the river from where it ends now.

He described more than one tell-tale Class B incident along that portion of river, including near the cove where Neel Branch meets the river.

Here is the map pin for where he and his wife heard knocks, etc., two nights ago: Click here.

For discussion on this report see official BFRO Facebook group.

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 [email protected]