Eyewitness believes he saw hairy Bigfoot-like creature

By Greg Cima

Bloomington Pantagraph

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Bigfoot encounter in central Illinois?

Bloomington man says huge creature hit his car.

By ANDREA FRAMPTON
Peoria Star Journal

FUNKS GROVE - He has such names as Bigfoot, Yeti and Sasquatch, and he may be lurking around central Illinois, according to Tom Biscardi.

Biscardi, a California resident, believes Bigfoot is more than a legend and has been hunting the creature since 1973. The founder of Searching for Bigfoot Inc. is convinced a rural area near Funks Grove can support two of the creatures he says would weigh around 350 pounds each. After visiting the area this week, he said there are enough small rodents, grubs and vegetation for the hairy pair to munch.

“Nobody in the field is doing this like us. They’re not in the firing trenches, not braving the temperatures, there’s plenty of places that those creatures can be concealed,” Biscardi said. “There may be a little hub there. Don’t be too surprised to see a bear in the springtime. I have a feeling.”

Biscardi and a four-man team of animal trappers traveled to Funks Grove early this week armed with infrared cameras, thermal imagers, motion cameras and tranquilizer guns.

The Bigfoot search team was drawn to the area this week by a phone call last summer from Bloomington resident Chris Vielhak. Vielhak said he saw a large black creature he thought at first was a bear run behind his 1990 Mustang as he drove slowly down State Route 66. After he felt a slap to the side of his car, Vielhak said he was startled and sped away to discover five large claw marks on the trunk. Vielhak called Biscardi after doing some research on the Internet.

“It kept bugging me and fascinated me about what hit my car, and it ticked me off because paint jobs cost money,” said Vielhak, 31. “Many people may not believe me, that’s up to them. I walked with Tom and took him to where I saw it.”

Bob Schmalzbach, secretary for Searching for Bigfoot Inc., said the marks are not distinct enough to indicate the kind of creature that may have made them. Vielhak said he has no plans for wildlife experts to inspect the marks.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud said there has never been a public demand to check possible sightings of a Bigfoot.

The IDNR deals with animals native to Illinois, and Bigfoot is not one of them, he said.

Andrea Frampton can be reached at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com

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Sunday, August 09, 1970

‘Monster’ Sighted Near Kickapoo

Champaign-Urbana - News Gazette

Possibly Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster has wings . . . or there are a few “strange types” left over from the recent Kickapoo Creek Rock Festival….

One way or the other, there are people who claim “monster sightings: in the Heyworth-Farmer City area.

Most generally, the reported monster has kept to the Kickapoo Creek area ambling in and around the river and near by timber area. It is as big as a cow, some say . . . Its eyes are red and it snorts, others claim.

The eating habits of the unchained creature are a bit strange as one individual, who after sighting the creature, followed it and found a string of opened clams, but half eaten minnows.

Three Rantoul youths recently decided on a fishing trip very early in the morning. As they were trekking down toward the river in the marshy, foggy, bottom land, they saw in their car’s headlight, it.

At the time, the trio, non of whom were aware of previous creature sightings, tried to discover what it was. Their lights did not seem to bother him, her, or it, any as it, him, or her, continued along ambling through the shore of the river heading for the nearby
timber.

The trio, well schooled in the Boy Scouts and being prepared, took their collective weapons of a hunting knife, a flashlight, and fishing knife, and sought to stalk the creature.

They claimed it was about as big as a cow, which, was standing on its back two legs. They said it did not make a sound which was audible and it moved into the timber and they lost track of it.

The Bloomington Pantagraph had a report of a sighting some two weeks ago, but this time, he, she, or it was in the Farmer City area.

“Something destroyed some tents and scared the daylights out of some kids who were camping,: it was reported.

The Rantoul trio, after failing in their attempt to find the monster, settled down to fish a little when they heard a rustling in the woods behind them.

This time, it was not the monster but a local farmer who was complaining about fences being down and his cattle scattered all over the country side.

A spokesman for the DeWitt County Sheriff’s office gave little credence to the story:

We had a monster up near Weldon Springs a few years ago and it turned out to be a kid playing games with a bear rug.”

A resident of Farmer City claimed:

“There is not truth to that story at all. It is just a couple of long haired hippies who are causing trouble.”

No matter what he, she, it, is; it , he , she, is real to young fishermen from Rantoul.

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Bigfoot announces his presence Big-time in little-known Illinois Gothic hotspot

By Eddie Middleton

Memphis UFO Examiner

There is an isolated, wooded area just outside of the little town of Hartford, Illinois that has long been reputed to be a very spooky spot indeed. This is where the old Lakeview Castle was built in the late 19th Century by an eccentric and wealthy Frenchman as the dream home for his new wife. There is nothing left of this formerly palatial place now but crumbling ruins, most of it destroyed by fire in the early ’70’s. This mansion with real turrets was built right out in the middle of the woods. The romantic Frenchman even constructed a moat around it [view Google Earth aerial photo at www.untameddimensions.com ]. He had created his own private fantasy world for himself and his new bride. They thoroughly enjoyed their life here for a few years until she died. Then he moved away never to be heard from again [read the colorful, storybook history of this place at : http://www.altonhauntings.com/hartford.html]. One might be reminded of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” that once was a place of bright cheer and happiness until it fell upon evil days and a deadly gloom descended upon it, an ominous zig zag crack running diagnonally down its wall as if symbolizing the curse that had fallen upon the Usher family. This comparison easily comes to mind when one sees the bleak atmosphere this Hartford Castle location now has compared with its glorious heyday. Of course there have been tales told over the years by those bold enough to venture into this forbidding spot after dark, of having seen the sad ghost of the deceased wife roaming the site of her once splendid abode. This is all part of the supernatural lore of “Eerie Illinois” written about in various ghost tour guides.

But what almost nobody knows about is that this place is also heavily haunted by Bigfoot. There has been a recent rash of sightings of this being in the immediate vicinity of the old castle starting back in late April of this year that never got reported to the news media or even to any paranormal investigator. A correspondent of mine who lives about ten miles from Hartford just filled me in on the details. This man told me that he used to play in the woods around the castle when he was a kid and every now and then returns to have a look around. Back around May 2nd of this year, he was wandering over the property (in the daytime)and spotted tracks of what looked like a human foot—but were 15 inches long and twice as wide as his own foot! A few days later he was talking to a friend of his who works the late night shift at a warehouse directly across the road from the woods that harbor the remains of the old castle. This person told him that over the previous two week period she and two other gate guards on their respective late night shifts had been badly scared a number of times by what was obviously Bigfoot activity. In her case she had not actually seen the creature, but had heard over and over again throughout the wee hours of the night (nearly every night) loud reports of heavy rocks hitting the side of the building [rock throwing is a typical Bigfoot retaliatory tactic]. And when this was occuring, she also smelled an awful odor like that of rotting meat. The Bigfoot stench is often mentioned by those who have had close encounters with this being. One can imagine how unnerving this must have been, especially considering that she was all alone at the time.

Within this same two-week period another guard at the warehouse had an even more dramatic, up close and personal, encouter with Bigfoot. This guard had always ridden his bicycle to work. He was riding-in one night to assume his late night shift, traveling along a lonely stretch of Poag Road that runs by Cahokia Creek which winds through the woods and crosses the old castle acreage—when he suddenly found himself face to face with a 9 or 10 foot tall hairy manlike creature standing on the side of the road. This thing let out a blood-curdling howl just as this guy almost ran right into him. I guess it’s a miracle that the guard didn’t fall off his bicycle! He somehow continued to manage to peddle his vehicle—and a lot faster then. He raced on until he reached the guard gate, and in an extremely agitated state told the man he was relieving all about his encounter. This man, simply not believing his story, laughed at him, telling him he was full of sh**!

As fate would have it, on the next night this man who had made fun of the first guy’s fantastic tale of a Bigfoot encouner had his chance to reconsider the wisdom of his ridicule. During his shift a Bigfoot came and stood directly across the road from the guard gate and vented a hideous howl at him. It would have been poetic justice had he actually messed in his pants, considering the ugly thing he had said to the other guard. And for all we know this did happen as he was so shattered by what he witnessed that he quit his job the next day.

Postscript : My friend who found the huge footprints all around the moat area of the castle ruins tried to talk to the guard who had had the encounter on his bicycle, but this man refused to talk to him and, in fact, said he didn’t ever want to talk to anybody about it again. I suppose this is typical of people who have experienced the unknown much too close for comfort. It’s hard for those who have never had this privilege to imagine how traumatizing it can be.

As one interesting side note, when one looks at the aerial photo from Google Earth of the castle moat, it is seen as a perfectly symetrical triangle with curved edges with one of its angles pointing directly east in the directon of Cahokia Mounds only twenty miles away. This is the largest Native American burial site in the U.S. It probaby is situated on a ley line. If this is the case, then the Hartford Castle due to its proximity to it may be a paranormal hotspot as well.

The Bigfoot activity in this area continues to this day. I wouldn’t advise going there though to snoop around at night. These awesome, possibly supernatural, beings apparently don’t appreciate people intruding into their playground. Mark this down as a newly discovered window area for more sighitngs like the ones described above. Remember : You heard it first on Night Search! (www.nightsearch.net)

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Police Told of Red ‘Creature’

Edwardsville Intelligencer

What is 5-feet 8-inches tall, broad-shouldered and reddish in color, has red eyes that can’t stand light, smells musty and walks without making a sound?

A Frederick Street resident doesn’t know what it is either, but he told police there’s one lurking in Springer’s Woods.

He reported the creature at 1:30 a.m. today to Edwardsville police. He said he saw the creature Wednesday night and that it also had been sighted Monday night in Springer’s Woods.

He said that a friend of his told him that the creature had come up behind him Monday night and grabbed him, tearing his shirt and scratching his chest.

Police wet to Springer’s Woods This morning, but the creature could not be found. The man who made the report told police that it is afraid of light.

It screams when light is shined in its eyes, he reported.

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Armed Squads To Seek Killer Bear Tonight Near Gooseville

Will Converge on Area Terrorized by Phantom Animal

Alton Telegraph

Bethalto - Seven armed squads of men, armed with loaded shotguns, are to comb the dense brush of the Gooseville area, nine miles east of Alton on Highway 140, starting at 5 p.m. today until nightfall.

They will be seeking an animal - believed to be a bear - known to be dangerous.

An expected 100 men will comprise the posses which will rendezvous at the washed-out Moro bridge, one mile north of Highway 140, 10 miles east of Alton.

The hunters will attempt to flush the animal killer from its lair somewhere in the ominous dark wooded areas flanking Indian Creek.

65 Meet at Bethalto

Sixty-five men met last night to plan today’s hunt at the Bethalto City Hall. They came from communities of the area, rallying to a call for volunteers. The hunt is to be lead by Mayor Henry Gerdes, mayor of Bethalto.

Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks. Children and livestock have been guarded with extra precautions. Outside night activity has dropped to zero.

The animal last week killed and mangled a 7 months old bull calf owned by Fred Pruett. Pruett, at that time, related that he had laughed when he first read a week earlier about the night shrieks and screams of the alleged bear in the Gooseville area. “but I’m not laughing anymore.” He declared.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Ed Heeren, Bethalto, exhibited a 60 pound bear trap which he is to set. Several of the hunters said they have had experience before in hunting dangerous animals - wolves and bears.

Reports 4-Inch Tracks

At latest report this morning, there was added evidence that it is a bear that has caused the terror.  M.A. Dodd described some tracks he had discovered Tuesday noon in the mud under a bridge in the area. He said they were fresh and some measured 4 inches in length.

The tracks, Dodd said, were not there when a group of Bethalto American Legionaires were searching for the animal in the Gooseville area Sunday morning.  A group of Legionnaires was to follow the trail last midnight. Evidently the trail failed to lead to the bear as no report was received today of success in the hunt.

In the last two weeks Gooseville residents and others have told of seeing an animal which they said looked like a bear. The animal was described variously as having a broad back, and brown or black.

Saw Beast’s Eyes

At least one has seen wicked eyes of a beast of prey starring from the darkness near a garage.

Other reports more recently have been received from residents in the eastern fringe of Alton. Some say they have seen or heard the animal.

Two weeks ago in Chautauqua, 32 miles northwest of Alton, residents of that summer resort reported the screams of a wildcat echoed over the still valley in the dead of night.

The general plan of tonight’s bear hunt at Gooseville is for the seven posses to converge from the four directions, meeting at the Moro bridge at dusk.

The posses are to meet and start as separate units at 5 p.m. Each posseman will carry a shotgun, with the chamber empty and the magazine loaded.

Elmer Westerhold,  Liberty Prairie, is captain of the three groups which are combing the 1000 acre Hatch timber, northeast of the intersection of Indian Creek and Highway 140. The squads will roam down Paddock’s Creek, which winds its way through the timber to Indian Creek.

Clifford Crabtree is leading a squad down the channel of Indian Creek from the north. Bob Cooper’s men will rendezvous at the northwest and proceed southeast to the central meeting place.

Other groups will comb the area to the south of Highway 140.

Included in the bear hunting parties are numerous veteran bear and wolf hunters. H. H. Carstena of Wood River reports killing several wolves near Carrolton a number of years ago. “I’d like like to meet that sucker - I’d make a floor mat out of him.” Carstena said.

Deputy Sheriff Frank Imel and Clyde Tisdel Sr. a constable, are stationed at Indian Creek and Highway 140 to keep traffic moving in the event sight-seers appear in large numbers.

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Frolicking ‘ape’ startles 2 young campers near Moro

By Dennis McMurray
Alton Telegraph

Two youths camping in an abandoned strip mine pit near Moro claim that they were startled early Sunday morning when a four foot tall “ape or monkey” suddenly bounded with 15 feet of them.

Ron Barton, 19, of Bethalto, and Bo Hester, 19, of Meadowbrook, said they saw the mysterious age through the light of their camp lantern.

They described it as an ape of brownish-reddish color, about 4-4 1/2 foot tall.

Barton said the creature loped down into the pit towards their tent, stared ate them, and then proceeded back up out of the pit, passing within 15 feet or so of their camp.

The youths reported the incident to the Madison County Sheriff’s Department at around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Two deputies, including sheriff’s department spokesman Pete Baetz came out to the strip mine.

Baetz said that “we could not find any evidence of the creature such as footprints or fur, but we have no reason to disbelieve them (the youths) either.”

Baetz said the department also check on whether a pet Asian Rock Monkey owned by a nearby resident might have escaped.

The owner of that monkey assured them it had not gotten out, Baetz said. Baetz added that the department did not plan any further investigation of the reported ape or monkey.

“We don’t normally track down monster stories but if it had been an Asian Rock Monkey it could be a danger to children so we checked it for safety reasons,” Baetz said.

Barton and Hester claimed the ape they saw was much larger than the pet Asian Rock Monkey. They also said that tracks would not have shown up because of the rock and gravel in the strip mine pit.

Barton said that if he could get a permit to use a high powered rifle, he’d like to go back and try to track down the creature, which he said he didn’t think could be taken alive.

Dave Harper, biologist with the Illinois Department of Conservation office in Alton said he has not heard any reports of stray monkeys or apes in the area since a squirrel hunter shot a small rhesus monkey near Pere Marquette State Park several years ago.

He said, though, that sometimes people owning pet monkeys will not report it when they ewcape [sic].

The “Moro monster” meanwhile, remains a mystery today.

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Moro ‘ape” added to area’s list of animalistic spooks

By Dennis McMurray
Alton Telegraph

An “ape” near Moro Sunday was the latest of a menagerie of monsters and beasts reported in the Telegraph area over the years, including the famous “Gooseville Bear,” which has never been captured.

Other cryptic-creatures mysteriously congregating in this area but never nabbed include a “great snake” in East Alton which, legend has it, could swallow and entire calf, and a seven-foot-tall man-beast with long white shaggy hair periodically reported between Marine and Edwardsville.

But the “Gooseville Bear” was the beast that most befuddled area residents because so far, anyway, it is the only one of the creatures for which there was a serious search.

The great hunt for the “Gooseville Bear” on August 10, 1949, drew attention from the press, including a photographer for (now deceased) “Life” magazine.

According to front page, Telegraph accounts, which treated the event, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as only slightly less important that the invasion of Normandy, a posse of around 100 men, led by the then Mayor of Bethalto, and armed to the teeth with shotguns and hunting rifles, gathered to track down the “Gooseville Bear”.

Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks and children and livestock are guarded with extra precautions. The telegraph dramatically reported on August 10, 1949.

The posse formed into seven squads to comb dense brush in the area called “Gooseville” about 9 miles east of Alton.

The “bear” or whatever it was, was blamed for killing and mangling a bull calf, and apparently hundreds of residents claimed to have heard frightening screams and growls. One resident even claimed to have seen the “wicked eyes of a beast of prey staring from the darkness near a garage.”

Nor everyone took it seriously, though. A Bethalto grocer posted a sign in his window inviting people to “leave orders for bear steaks.” The Canadian Fur Corp, of New York offered $350 for the “bear’s” pelt.

The day of the great hunt, a state trooper claimed to have a corpse of a creature that had the body of a hound and the head of a bear. He offered to show it to anyone who was interested, but there were no takers, the Telegraph reported.

The posse roamed the brush for several hours the night of August 10, 1949. In the morning one of the squads reported they had seen bear tracks along Indian Creek. But otherwise, the item reported, “everyone had a good time and no one was hurt - not even the alleged bear.”

The posse disbanded but then two nights later, a farmer on the edge of Alton, accompanied by a pet monkey named “Chico” claimed to have confronted a furry beast and fired two shots at it. But since his ancient .22 pistol frequently misfired, the farmer decided then that discretion was the better part of valor and beat a hasty retreat back to his farmhouse to call up reinforcements from the Alton police and Madison County sheriff’s departments. The monkey had previously hightailed it back.

“Gooseville Bear” fever then apparently calmed down for several years later there would be occasional that it had been sighted or heard again. Such reports seemed to pop up whenever there was an extremely slow news day at the Telegraph, a veteran staff reporter observed.

At the time of the famous bear hunt, a lengendary [sic] “great snake” that inhabited a pasture in East Alton was recalled by older area residents.

An East Alton man, with a reputation as a raconteur claimed to have watched the serpent swallow an entire calf. The story spread and was solemnly related by newspapers all over the nation.

The Telegraph speculated, though, that the story of the snake, might somehow be related to the fact that the farmer who owned the pasture was unhappy over pawpaw [sic]pickers who damaged his fences and encouraged the tales of the snake.

The Telegraph area has also had its own version of “Bigfoot”, the giant hairy creature reported in such diverse places as the American northwest and the Asian Himalayas.

The local version, periodically reported over a period of several years by motorists driving between Marine and Edwardsville has been described as around 7 feet tall with long shaggy white hair, apparently one of the more elderly of that breed of beasts.

There is one instance, though, of the identify of a monster or beast being solved. A pin setter at an East Alton bowling alley around 20 years ago reported seeing a strange grayish creature crouched on the side of the road.

The creature was soon dubbed “The Thing” but an investigation finally disclosed that it was actually a deer who had roamed into the city.Media Article - Madison County, Illinois - # 2

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Bears and Bigfoot and snakes, oh my! Be

By Charlotte Stetson
Alton Telegraph

A bear in Bethalto? Bigfoot in Edwardsville? Monster snakes in East Alton? A variety of wild animals have made the news in The Telegraph over the years. But one of the best tales is that of the Gooseville bear.

A recent Our Past item mentioned Gooseville, and I thought it was in Macoupin County. Much to my surprise Gooseville is in Madison County, near Bethalto.

When Illinois was the last frontier, so to speak, early writers described the lush forests and prairies in the Illinois territory. Brink’s History of Madison County, published in 1882, listed the elk, bear, buffalo, wild cat, deer and other small fauna that resided in Illinois before the white man came. Now we see plenty of deer, raccoons are taking over our neighborhoods, possums are frequently road kill and the suburbs are overrun by rabbits and squirrels. They are not as interesting, however, as the tale of the Gooseville bear.

The Gooseville bear caused a great uproar back in August, 1949 when it “appeared” in the Bethalto area around Indian Creek. The discovery of a mangled calf prompted Bethalto Mayor Henry Gerdes, a district supervisor for the Illinois Conservation Department, to decide a bear had done the damage, since the calf’s liver was missing, and “bears always eat a victim’s liver first.”

A meeting was held in Bethalto to decide what to do about the varmint that was terrorizing the area about nine miles east of Bethalto. A posse of 150 men was put together, and divided into teams to track down the beast. Indian Creek intersected Gooseville, and the search would extend about three miles north and south of Route 140. It was all set. Seven posses of men who were “armed to the teeth” with shotguns and rifles, would converge at the Moro bridge and spread out from there.

On Aug. 10, 1949, The Alton Evening Telegraph reported, “Fear of the bear has held the Gooseville residents in the grip of night terror for three weeks and children and livestock are guarded with extra precautions.” Many residents said they heard frightening screams and growls in the night. One resident claimed to have seen the “wicked eyes of a beast of prey staring from the darkness near a garage.” A state trooper claimed to have found the corpse of a creature that had the body of a hound and the head of a bear, and offered to show it to interested people, but nobody took him up on it.

Many people didn’t take the tales too seriously. A Bethalto grocer had a sign in his window saying, “Leave orders for bear steaks here.” The Canadian Fur Corp. of New York offered $250 for the pelt.

The hunts extended over several nights before the posse disbanded without the bear (or $250 pelt). An Alton farmer later claimed to have confronted a furry beast and fired at it then hustled back to his home to call up reinforcements from the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and Alton Police. The uproar calmed down, but the tale was resurrected occasionally through the years.

About the same time, some elderly residents in the River Bend also recalled the story of a “great snake” that lived in a pasture in East Alton. One man claimed to have seen the snake swallow an entire calf. That story spread, as did the Gooseville bear tale, and was carried by newspapers all over the country. The Telegraph speculated that the farmer who owned the pasture came up with the snaky tale to keep pawpaw pickers off his property.

In 1976, two young men camping in an abandoned strip mine pit near Moro claimed they had been startled when a four foot tall “ape or monkey” came within 15 feet of them. Ron Barton, 19, and Bo Hester, 19, said they saw the ape by the light of their lantern. Sheriff’s Department deputies searched the area but found no evidence of footprints or fur. They speculated that a pet Asian rock monkey owned by a nearby resident could have escaped. That Moro monster, along with the East Alton snake and the Gooseville bear, remain a mystery today.

Wildlife biologists also doubt any claims of the frequent cougar sightings in the River Bend, although bobcats have been reported as well, a much more likely possibility.

The Telegraph area also has had its own “Bigfoot,” the giant hairy creatures reported in the Himalayas, the Northwest United States, Texas, and, more recently, in Michigan. The local beast was described as seven feet tall with long shaggy white hair, suggesting a senior citizen Bigfoot. It was seen in the Marine and Edwardsville area.

And you thought the Piasa Bird was our only monster.

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