In the late summer of the early 90’s (actual year up for debate), I was riding my bike. I had been riding my bike through the trails in the woods that were in the back of Laplace Park. It was getting late so I was heading back to my dad’s house for the evening. A close friend of the family who was on his way to pick up his girlfriend, she lived down the street from my dad. He flagged me down to speak with me. What he told me next has stuck in my memory, and was the spark that lit the flame regarding personal interest I took in all things weird, and strange. For the sake of anonymity this family friend will remain nameless, so I will refer to him as Mr. Nameless.
It was late in the evening when Mr. Nameless flagged me down. I don’t remember verbatim what he told me that day but the gist of that conversation has stuck in my psyche with clarity for nearly 30 years. What he described to me, in my mind was a Bigfoot sighing. Not in the Pacific Northwest, but right there in Laplace!
There wasn’t much to his story, but the seriousness of his delivery, and the apparent reluctance to tell me, gave his words credence. I remember he kept repeating something to the effect of “look, I’m not sure what I saw.” At that time the only reference I had to Bigfoot was a few TV shows and a book I checked out a few times from my school’s library. It was enough just enough working knowledge for me to form an opinion. Mr. Nameless wasn’t sure what he saw, but I was convinced.
In an attempt to keep occupied and at home during these various phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, on a whim I decided to search out Louisiana based Bigfoot sightings. Outside of the infamous Honey Island Swamp Monster, there were not many stories that I found in my preliminary search. I got more specific with my search terms and soon stumbled upon something that reignited the idea of a creature like Bigfoot existing in our parts.
1983 St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
I came across a L’Observateur article that ran around Halloween 2002, titled: Let the haunting good times roll. The article contained a short anecdotal account of an unnamed Laplace man that in 1983 saw something correlates with what Mr. Nameless saw. The anonyms Laplace man said he was out near Ruddock with a friend, they were clearing land with a bulldozer when they came across footprints in the mud that were at least 19 inches in length.
On a different occasion that same Laplace man was out in the swamp with these two Doberman pinchers when he spotted a 7 foot tall bi-pedal creature that caused the dogs to run off. The next day the man found the two Doberman’s decapitated. The article does not specify if this happened in the same area that he and his friend found the large footprints.
Coming across this story made me reach out to Mr. Nameless to see if he would entertain the idea answering some questions about the experience he had in the early 90’s. To my surprise I got text response saying “I’m outside in my backyard if you want to come over, it’s not much of a story.” I remember it was a brief encounter and not many details but my objective was to write down what he remembered from his perspective, rather than a second-hand accounting from my childhood perspective.
1990-1992 (early 90’s) St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
To kill some time before his date, Mr. Nameless decided to take an evening cruise down Peavine Road to the lake. He told me how past the railroad track, near the lake they had some deer in a fenced in area. He checked out the deer kept driving and turned around at the lake headed back towards Hwy. 51. About half way back to the railroad crossing, 100 yards up the road. A large dark figure on two legs crossed the road. He slowed down when he saw it because he got the impression that this was not a man. He told me it made no since for someone to be crossing the road at that point. There was thick wet swamp on both sides. Whatever he saw had Mr. Nameless so unsettled that even from the safety of his truck was hesitant to pass where the creature had crossed.
He told himself “if whatever that was jumps out at me, I can always hit the accelerator.” When he got to the area where the creature crossed the road, he looked out the driver’s side window but did not see anything. A human would have a substantial amount of trouble walking through the terrain. He was only about 100 yards away when it crossed so a person would not of had time to get far enough to disappear into the swamp. Mr. Nameless admitted that he did not want to slow down to get a good look.
The dark figure crossed the road from the passenger side to the driver side, so it was traveling due south when it crossed the road. It was still very much daylight when this happened but the only detail he could make out was that the creature was upright and a bipedal hominid, dark in color. When I asked Mr. Nameless if the creature was covered in hair he told me that he could not make out any detail other than the figure was large, and almost black.
The next day Mr. Nameless, his older brother, and a mutual friend went ride back out to Peavine. When they got to the spot they noticed the earth and surrounding plant life was disturbed like something big frequently passed there, a game trail of sorts. The mud was too sloppy to retain any prints. The three adult men surveyed the area from the inside of the truck.
Mr. Nameless is still is not 100% sure what he saw that evening down Peavine Road, but from time to time he still thinks, and wonders what that large dark figure that crossed his path could be.
1989 St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
The Same L’Observateur article that mentioned the Laplace man’s sighting near Ruddock in 1983, also makes mention of another ‘Laplace man’ that had a strange encounter on top of the levee near Bayou Steel. In 1989 this man was alone on top of the levee near Bayou Steel; He was waiting for his brother to meet him to go hunting behind the levee. The man heard a noise behind him; he turned around and witnessed two large, red eyes staring back at him. The man dropped his gun and ran. The details of just seeing the eyes suggest that this sighting happened in the early morning while it was still dark. The only credibility I can give to these reports is that they ran in the paper.
Stumbling upon the L’Observateur article reignited my borderline obsessive interest in these types of creature sightings. I was compelled to dig in further to see if I could find more sighting reports in the Southeast Louisiana area, if only to substantiate these other reports. The only one I say can I truly believe is the sighting told to me by Mr. Nameless and that is only because I have known him my entire life and trust him. Even if I didn’t believe his story, I believe his demeanor when recounting it.
1891 Vacherie, LA
The earliest report takes place in the swampy forest of Back Vacherie in 1891.An excerpt from “Along The River Road, Past and Present on Louisiana’s
Historic Byway” by Mary Ann Sternberg. I found a report from Civil War veteran Fredrick Kliebert who was walking home from a squirrel hunt when he saw what he described as a giant. A 9ft tall man with a black beard and what appeared to be a cloak of brown fur hanging from his neck by a rope. The Giant’s body appeared to be covered with reddish hair. Kliebert was stunned when he saw this giant approaching him. It ended up passing within 15 yards of Mr. Klibert. The giant was walking westerly at a quick pace with a sorrowful but purposeful look. Kliebert tried to communicate with the giant, asking “who are you? Where are you from?” Kliebert got no response. Perhaps this giant was not a fan of small talk, and from the direction of travel I suspect the giant was heading home to Chackbay
1970 Marrero, Louisiana
One of the most compelling reports occurred in Marrero, LA circa 1970. A Police officer and his partner, responding to a neighborhood prowler call. Near Avenue A around 9pm, He arrived at the scene and spoke to the lady that called it in. She witnessed someone “slinking around her property”. After the officers spoke to the complainant they decided to do a search of the perimeter. While the officers were talking to the lady, a K-9 unit arrived on scene and when they began their search the dog alerted to something. The officers came around the corner of the house and saw a creature standing up, pressed against the side of the house, trying to maintain cover. After being spotted, the creature ran between two houses then continued to the street when it passed under a streetlight. The creature continued on as it reached a woody marsh area near a canal then disappeared. The K-9 unit lost the scent once it ran into the marsh.
The officer that submitted this report has over 40 years in military and law enforcement, a degree in Anthropology, and self educated in Darwinism, math and quantum physics. He and his partner were a part of a unit in Jefferson Parish that were first responders to criminal calls, making this a most credible report.
The creature in question was described by the officer as being an eight foot talk, bipedal hominid, dark hair (not fur), and “massively build”. Both the officer and his partner got a good look at the creature when it passed under the streetlight. The creature ran two city blocks before absconding into the marsh. The officer reported that the creature crossed a 22 foot wide street in three strides.
The officer that reported this sighting stated he and his partner did not discuss this much past that night. In the official report the officer filed he was honest, but kept the details to a minimum, it was a very tall dark figure, with no description of clothing.
In an interview conducted by Carter Buschardt, the officer stated that he went back to look at the end of shift report he filed the night of the encounter, but was unable to find the report. At the time of the encounter the officer had no working knowledge of Bigfoot or sasquatch, but having a degree in anthropology left no doubt in the officers mind what he saw was most defiantly not a large, naked, human being. Full report can be found on bfro.net Report # 56107.
1980 Ponchatoula, Louisiana
In a new subdivision that was still being developed named Sheryl’s Meadows, a 12 year old riding their mini-bike along with their cousin saw a “lumbering creature” approximately 500 yards away. The creature was black, hairy, and walking upright on two legs. The cousins were ridding toward the creature when they spotted it walking on side of the road in their direction. The cousins decided to turn around and go back the direction they came to avoid a close encounter with this unknown, imposing, bipedal creature.
Once turned around, the cousin looked back and observed the creature now walking in the middle of the road and at a quicker pace toward the children. The 12 year old that was operating the mini-bike accelerated so hard that thier cousin fell off the back. Once the cousin jumped back on they yelled “GO!” They did not look back after that.
The same 12 year old child claims that about a month after, they were out with the same cousin in the woods that bordered their neighborhood, when they spotted a bush along the train track shake. Out of the shaking bush came a large hairy arm, grabbed a handful of leaves then went back in. It was late in the evening and getting dark, so they could not see into the bush. The two children ran the entire way home, about ¼ of a mile.
This sighting took place just north of the Manchac Swamp region, about a quarter mile away from Hwy. 22. The report suggests that these two encounters took place in roughly the same area. A cattle bridge that crossed the Yellow Water River was mentioned as a landmark in the report. For the original report of this sighting visit bfro.net Report #2764
2000 Ascension Parish, Louisiana
Late October, near Sorrento, Louisiana a commuter was heading home. Driving west on Airline Hwy. 61 when they saw a creature pop up out from the bank of the canal that parallels Airline. The commuter stated that the headlights of his car shined directly onto the creature so they got a pretty good look at it. Described as looking like a sloth, the creature was covered in a light grey hair, had a small round head and a brown nose. Long, thin arm attached to a 6 to 7 foot frame. The creature stood upright on two legs. The commuter stated “Unlike the sloth, it was man-like.” Full report can be found on bfro.net Report #514
2015 Assumption Parish, Louisiana
In Assumption Parish it is common place for house to be built substantially off the ground to withstand inevitable flood waters. A woman reports that several nights before the actual sighting there was something rummaging around underneath ther house. One day her husband was walking back from his shop in the backyard, and was pretty shook up over what he witnessed. At first he thought it was a bear that was under the house causing a commotion, but as he approached the creature “stood up and ran off” into the swamp. Two dead squirrels and a dead rabbit were found under the house where the creature had been rummaging. Their property backs up to a vast cypress swamp. The woman also reported finding hair “all over the yard” front steps, and porch.
After the initial sighting by the husband, the wife reported that a neighbor came by in an adjatated state. The neighbor, who was unaware of the husband’s sighting, stated that while walking with his dog in the woods, his dog got spooked and ran back toward their house. The neighbor then said he saw an 8 foot tall creature standing on two legs. The Husband also described the creature as being “dark in color and large.” Full report can be found on http://www.gcbro.com/LAassumption03-12-2016.html
2005 Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Deep in the rural wooded swamp of Livingston Parish and young girl was having a friend of hers spend the night. The friend forgot her purse in the car. It was near 2am and both parties were hesitant to walk to the car to retrieve the purse. The two young women decided they would go to the car together. Once the girl was halfway to the vehicle she noticed her friend was still standing at the front door of the house. The brave friend continued on to the car, opened the door and started to feel around in the dark for the purse in the passenger seat. The brave friend stated that something in her mind told her to look ahead. There she saw standing next to a tree 25 feet away a creature that she described as being extremely tall and white. She described it also as being tall and hairy and went on to further say that it was “almost so white it was glowing.” She also described the creature to be staring in her direction.
The brave friend dismissed what she saw for a moment and continued to search for the purse in the dark. A few seconds’ passes and she started to feel a fear building inside. She finally located the purse she grabbed it and quickly ran inside the house.
Some months prior to this her entire family told her they hear “a woman screaming at the top of her lungs, followed by a gurgling noise” coming from the woods. They had no clue to what creature could make such a sound. Full report can be found at http://www.gcbro.com/LAlivingston0001.html
A student attending St. Joseph’s seminary college had an experience that cannot be classified as a sighting, but rather and auditory experience. It was a fall evening and this student was walking on a road in back of the property that borders cow pastures and piney woods. The student would take evening walks while saying the rosary. This particular evening something strange caught the seminary student’s ear. They described it as a cross between a whimpering dog and human crying. The human animal sobbing sounds were also accompanied by the snapping of branches and the crackling of leaves that gave the impression of something large moving through the woods.
The seminary student stood still, they got the impression that the source of the noise was moving along a path in the woods and getting closer. The sounds stopped just before it would have broke the tree line and became visible. The hybrid whimpering could still be heard, and was clear and near, but still no visible sign of what was producing these sounds. The seminary student had the urge to run back to the monastery to tell someone but a thought emerged “NO. Nothing is going to hurt me.” The student also stated that he did not want to alarm the creature by running off.
The seminary student continued to stand still to observe further when the creature started to pace back in fourth just out of sight, beyond the tree line, all why still producing the strange whimpers. This continued for 15 minutes until the sound started to travel away. The sounds grew faint as the creature traveled deeper into the woods until they faded completely. The student waited 5 more minutes to see if the sounds would return but the encounter was over.
Years later the seminary student was watching a television program about Bigfoot and they played audio of a suspected Sasquatch. The student claimed it was the exact same sounds they heard during their encounter. Full report can be found at http://www.gcbro.com/LAsttammany0004.html
Could these sightings be and unknown species of hominid living for the most part, undetected in the southeast Louisiana wilderness? In this region; cities, towns, and neighborhoods tend to arise on the dry patches of earth that are surrounded by vast, thick, primordial swamp. I suppose anything is possible, and while the Bigfoot sighting phenomena originated in the Pacific Northwest, it seems more than plausible that such a creature could exist here.
Logic would dictate that any such creature living in southeast Louisiana would appear thinner in both frame and hair because of the climate and wet conditions. That is if we are to believe that these creatures are flesh and blood biological entities.
Other more “out there” schools of thought would suggest that these creatures or of a different origin, Alien, Spirit, even faerie. As outlandish as that sounds some of the very details in this essay support that. The sound of human cries in the woods is a theme directly from faire lore. Immense fear or indifference could be contributed to psychic phenomena that are sometimes reported with these types of sightings. Some even suggest a mix of biological and fringe. That these creatures are flesh and blood, but the reason they go undetected is because they are inter-dimensional beings that pop in and out of our reality. The few folks that lay eyes on these creatures are simply catching an interloper just visiting.
I tend to lean more on the flesh and blood theory but I think it is important to keep all possibilities in play. We all have a notion that this world is a lot stranger than it seems on a surface level. The only way to arrive at the truth is to keep your mind open to weirdness.
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