Doctor Records over 100 Ozark Bigfoot Stories

12″ long narrow footprint – Photograph by Dr. Emmett Reary

After listening to hundreds of encounters, one thing seems certain: sprawling wilderness in any state could be inhabited by Sasquatch. Enough wild land not regularly visited by humans could house these creatures. The Ozark Mountains in the Southern United States are certainly no different. Dr. Emmett Reary; a Salem, Missouri chiropractor; knows these 50,000 square miles of dense forest feature a rich percentage of Ozark Bigfoot. He has collected over 100 compelling stories just in his little piece of the Ozarks alone. Reary even saw an elusive “Blue Man of the Mountains” with his own eyes.

* The following is an adaptation of the article “Bigfoot in Bunker? The Search is On” by Andrew Sheeley, published on ‘Salem News Online’

The Blue Man Apple Smasher

Reary always knew about the massive phantoms of the mountains. He grew up in Dent County always believing that Ozark Bigfoot of some variety lurked beyond the farmland. A different type of creature, though, brought Reary to the pulsing intersection of myth and reality. In the 1970s the Department of Conservation officially proclaimed that there were no Mountain Lions in Missouri. Particularly offended by this “official” ruling, the proud young academic vowed to prove them wrong. Reary wrote an article in the paper, requesting sightings of big cats in the area. Instead of cougars, he was sent report after report of “Bigfoot” in the area.

Already a bit charmed by the legend of the Ozark Bigfoot, Reary began his own expeditions for evidence. It wasn’t long before he got results. Reary theorized that these creatures– if they were anything like other forest denizens– would easily detect obvious human, bipedal movement and flee: especially considering their higher intelligence.

The Ozark Mountain Range: Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma

Reary rode horses into the deep woods of his Missouri Ozarks. Masking the human presence with a horse proved extremely successful for Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, to say the least. Reary had similar success. One afternoon he rode around a creek bed and found a large, black creature hunched down next to the water. He could actually see the “bluish tint” of its jet black hair in the sunlight. He watched the creature handle a hedge apple for several minutes, ultimately crushing the tough fruit above its face to slurp the juices. The beast soon stomped away into a nearby sinkhole, where a weary Reary dared not follow. He believed more hid in the depression, as he could smell an overwhelming, foul odor. From that day Reary’s entire world turned a significant corner.

The Bigfoot Doctor is in

Reary became the unofficial Bigfoot expert of his Missouri Ozarks. Fascinated by his tales, regional hunters and landowners sought him out to relay their own experiences with the “Blue Men.” Reary assures all that he is a skeptic from beginning to end when evaluating these stories, but sometimes you simply can’t deny the convincing details. He depends on facts, but admits that “once you start looking into things like this, you cannot believe the amount of evidence you start to come across.” Over 100 compelling stories landed on Reary’s plate throughout the last few decades. Some of the recent ones prove that the Blue Men of the mountains no doubt remain in the area.

Bill’s Land

Bill, a property owner near the Mark Twain National Forest, contacted Reary after experiencing bizarre, escalating behavior from something in the woods. The eerie ongoings began immediately after he moved onto a once vacant, mass of farmland and forest. Bill rode his all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) around the grounds one day to tour the scope of his recent purchase. He entered a forested region and discovered a deer corpse forcefully shoved into the fork of a tree fifteen feet from the ground. Bill immediately bolted home to retrieve his wife and camera. When he returned shortly thereafter, the deer carcass was gone. Subsequent nights brought strange sounds from the woods and rocks thrown at the house. The ATV trails across the expansive property were inexplicably blocked off with massive logs that took a tractor to move. The chilling activity escalated into physical encounters. A worker observed a seven foot tall creature in the fields while weed eating and two terrified grandchildren said they were chased by a ‘Bigfoot’ while riding the ATVs through the forested area.

According to Reary, these experiences often echo each other. Throughout the years, he has determined that aggressive Ozark Bigfoot activity often stems from humans moving into once-uninhabited areas. Alarmed by the change these creatures react from a distance, and slowly move closer and become bolder. And if their habitat is squeezed tight enough, they may even try moving on to neighboring land.

Rick’s Land

A rural Salem MO man named Rick contacted Reary to report several strange happenings around his home and farmland. Persistent knocks upon the side of the house kept him frightened throughout the night. The eerie activity continued, leading up to the discovery of several deeply cemented 4x4s broken in half with apparent blunt force. A long metal pipe twisted and bent was found next to the smashed wood pieces. One morning shortly thereafter, massive handprints were found all over the man’s garage door.

Handprint (without scale) – Photograph by Dr. Emmett Reary

Reary investigated Rick’s farm. He discovered that a logging operation was moving through a heavily forested region next to the farm. He also spoke to neighbors to see if they experienced anything odd. Amazingly, several admitted witnessing a tall, black shape moving through the fields. A terrible odor alerted them to the presence of this invader. All evidence suggests these creatures moved to neighboring land when logging efforts ripped through their own.

Reary’s Diagnosis: Nothin’ to Worry About

Despite perceived aggressive behavior, Reary concludes that most of the encounters and strange happenings in the Ozarks should not be viewed as threatening. He has never interviewed anyone who experienced a truly dangerous or malevolent Ozark Bigfoot encounter. Like many of us, Reary believes “there’s something out there which is just as curious about us as we are of them.” Educated and practical, Reary craves the rare drips of scientific evidence. But for now, the occasional handprint and floating deer corpse will quench his Blue Man thirst.

Sources:

Sheeley, Andrew. “Bigfoot in Bunker? The Search Is on.” Thesalemnewsonline.com. The Salem News Online, 14 June 2016. Web.