A BFRO report was submitted by a woman known as “E.M.” about an incident that occurred on April 14, 2026 when she saw a tall dark creature fleeing through woods three miles north of Westlake, Louisiana.
Said the woman, who lives alone, about the encounter: “I was placing hay bales on the bulkhead that borders my back walkway. I had placed several them from topside but dropped one and it fell, there is a five to six foot drop off from the riprap to swamp. I had walked about 50 yards away to access the lower side from a spot easy to walk down and as I came around a fairly large tree I saw a very large dark thing standing upright as it took off crashing through vines and palmettos. It started going east which would have brought it to dry land and away from me but it turned north west and crossed through waist deep water of the canal. It was mostly obscured going through the water but I could see enough to see it was walking on two legs. I could tell by the sound of the movement in the water that it was on two legs. I have lived back here many years and know the difference between deer and hogs moving in the water.”
E.M. also said that her pets had been acting strangely just prior to the incident: “No personal incidents prior to this other than household pets and yard cats behaving differently a few days prior to incident. Several neighbors who also have animals in the area have also said their animals were behaving strangely, such as outside cats trying to get inside or staying in under cover. I personally have tiny dogs that usually try to run towards the road or across towards a patch of trees but lately they both stand at the edge of the yard at the drop off or simply will not get off the driveway and want to come directly back inside.”
BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker spoke with the witness by phone and said, “She is a very credible, intelligent, long-time employee of Citgo at the corporate level. She only got a split-second view of this creature when it first began crashing away through the brush. She had a longer view as it crossed the canal. It was partially obscured by brush and branches but she could see it was dark-furred and much taller than a deer. It was bounding through a waist deep canal as if it were only shin deep for this figure.
“The area has a lot of deer, and currently a bounty of ripening wild blackberries all throughout the area. This report notes something about the advantage of being upright and very tall if you hunt deer by hand. A deer trying to flee through waist deep water is going to slow down a lot, slow down enough to enable a very tall bipedal primate to run through the water to catch it. Sasquatches in this part of the country are often seen wading through swamps and flooded forest.”
Source: BFRO.net, April 27, 2026.