Clarke County newspaper seeking more information on 'Gainestown Bigfoot'

Here at The Courant we receive newspapers from all over Southwest Alabama, and a recent bit of weird news in Grove Hill’s Clarke County Democrat generated a lot of discussion in our office.

The Democrat is asking anyone who has seen a Bigfoot in Clarke County to call or e-mail the newspaper office in Grove Hill. They’re also seeking any photos that might be out there of a Bigfoot creature in Clarke County.

The Democrat’s call for Bigfoot information and photos stemmed from an online report in late May that said a man from Gainestown and his family were “tired of dealing” with a Bigfoot creature and planned to kill it unless officials “capture and remove it.”

Those of you who are familiar with Clarke County will know that Gainestown is an unincorporated community of less than 800 people located southeast of Jackson. Gainestown is located just west of Barlow Bend on the Alabama River, which makes up most of the border between Clarke and Monroe counties. As the crow flies, Gainestown is about 46 miles from downtown Evergreen.

The eyewitness in the recent Bigfoot case there said he first encountered the creature in 2015, late at night after a family reunion at Gainestown. The man, a native of Texas, said that he’d fallen asleep on his cousin’s sofa, but woke around 3:30 a.m. when “the dogs started going crazy” and one of the dogs began “yelling out like it was hurt.” The man then heard the sound of something coming onto the porch, and when he looked out a window, he saw something “unforgettable and unbelievable.”

The witness described what he saw on the porch as a hairy animal that walked on two legs, and he watch as it began to go through a trash can on the porch. The Bigfoot-like animal was so large that it had to squat because it was too tall to stand straight up on the porch. The witness noted that he could see the animal clearly because the porch lights had been left on and that he watched the animal for about 20 minutes, although it never turned so that he could see its face.

The man estimated that the animal was eight-feet tall and weighed about 800 pounds. He said it had brown and red hair, was “very muscular” and had 16-inch feet and five-foot-long arms. The witness also noted that the animal gave off a foul odor, saying it smelled like spoiled cheese.

The man considered taking a picture of the animal with his cellphone, but the phone was on a charger on the other side of the room. The witness remained at the window and continued to watch, afraid that if he moved it would scare the animal away. The animal eventually finished going through the trash, leapt off the porch, ran across a road and disappeared down a ravine.

The man’s family went on to report that the creature has been showing up often since then and has hurt some of their outdoor pets. They claim to know where it lives and want someone to capture it before they’re forced to kill it.

As hard as it may be to believe, reports of Bigfoot-like creatures aren’t unheard of in Conecuh County. According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, there have been two Bigfoot reports filed in Conecuh County since 2000.

The first incident occurred in February 2000 and involved a pair of teenagers who’d ventured out late at night to visit a girlfriend in the southern part of Conecuh County. Around 1:30 a.m., while sneaking to the girl’s house, they were chased by a large, hairy creature that stood on its hind legs. According to their account, they barely escaped the creature, which was said to have stomped and crashed through the underbrush after them.

The second incident occurred on Aug. 10, 2004 on a dirt road off U.S. Highway 84 close to the Sepulga River. The witness in this case reported seeing a black, hairy man-like creature, six to seven feet tall, who ran out in the road in front of his truck. The creature just kept running and disappeared into the woods, but not before leaving large footprints near the road.

With that said, I would be very interested to hear from anyone who have witnessed a Bigfoot or other strange animal in Conecuh County. I think a lot of other people would be interested in hearing your story too, and I’m willing to accept your report anonymously. You can contact me by e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net or by phone at 578-1492.