Police Officer Reports Seven-Foot-Tall Humanoid Lying near Highway in California

The approximate location of the sighting, as noted by Matt Moneymaker. (Google) — The approximate location of the sighting, as noted by Matt Moneymaker. *(Google)*

According to a report submitted to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) on January 23rd, police officer Rick Bates was headed home alone from Oregon that evening at around 8:15 p.m., driving south on Highway 101 in California, when he spotted a large, hairy humanoid lying on the highway’s shoulder.

In his report, Bates said,

I was driving home from Brookings, Oregon on [January 23rd, 2021]. I was southbound on Highway 101, south of Garberville, [California], and south of the Benbow Inn. The road makes a few turns and the speed limit drops in the area. As I rounded a sweeping right hand turn, I saw a figure on the southbound shoulder of the highway. I was the only vehicle in the area [at] about 8:15 PM. My speed was about 45-50 MPH as I passed the figure. The figure was [lying] on the shoulder of the road on its right side. I estimated the height to be about [seven feet]. I was looking at the creature's back and noticed it had broad shoulders and [a] thick torso shape. While the shape [was] similar to a human, it was not human. It was not a bear either. I could see muscular features in its glutes, and a head on the shoulders that was somewhat tapered toward the top and being held off the ground. Its hair was a chocolate brown and very course. The hair was not [like the fur] of a bear at all.
I turned around a distance past the spot and returned to where I had seen it. No other vehicles had gone north or south from the time I saw the creature to the time I returned to its location [an estimated two minutes]. When I got to the spot where I had seen it, the creature was gone.
As an avid hunter and fisherman I spend a lot of time in the woods. I spent every summer camping in that area as well as a kid. I have never seen anything like what I saw just this evening.

The Singular Fortean Society was able to confirm that there is a Sergeant Rick Bates with the Rohnert Park Police Department in California, but whether or not he was the same person responsible for this report remains unconfirmed.

Investigator Matt Moneymaker said he was able to speak with Bates, whom he said is a "20-year active duty law enforcement officer" who "describes himself as very observant."

"He has driven that highway many times," Moneymaker said of Bates. "He undoubtedly saw a large animal [lying] down next to the highway in the dark, illuminated by his headlights. The question is what type of animal. He could confidently eliminate deer, bear, elk, etc. He says it was shaped like a man but covered in chocolate brown fur. Its body was perpendicular to the highway. Its feet were within a [foot] of the white line on the side of the highway, 'as if it was roadkill,' but when he returned to the spot [two] minutes later, it was no longer there."

Moneymaker said that he had "never heard a report of a bigfoot [lying] down within a few feet of a highway...but that doesn't mean it wasn't observed in this case. The sighting occurred after dark along a desolate stretch of Highway 101 that follows the South Fork of the Eel River for many miles. It was on the right side of the southbound lane. Due to the curvature of the highway in the area the southbound lane is actually heading northwest at that particular spot."

The investigator noted the relative distance of a bigfoot gift shop to the sighting location, but didn't see that as something which necessarily invalidated the report.

"Approximately 1500 feet further south along the highway is the famous ‘Legend of Bigfoot’ gift shop," Moneymaker said. "It's in the middle of nowhere. A skeptic would argue that figure was likely a hoax (a man in a costume) because it was so close to the gift shop. The counter argument is that bigfoot-themed gift shops and/or bigfoot statues out west are often located in areas where there are many sightings, so the sighting didn't happen because of the gift shop. Rather, the gift shop happened because bigfoot sightings happen in that area."

Assuming it's not a hoax, Moneymaker could only speculate as to how the creature found itself next to the highway.

"It's anyone's guess as to why, in this case, the figure was laying so close to the highway, whether it was a bigfoot or a person in a bigfoot costume," he said. "It was not road kill because the figure wasn't there when he returned to the spot [two] minutes later. One could conjecture that the creature was hit by a car or truck, and then managed to walk away right after the witness drove by it. But no one so far has reported a collision with a bigfoot there. No one was stopped on the side of the road nearby when the witness drove past the figure. It would have been a very noticeable collision even with the largest truck."

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