Searching For Bigfoot: Kentucky 0507

Kentucky 0507

On 5/12/07, we arrived in Kentucky where we met with Jan Thompson. Jan is the writer of Jan’s Tales and a chronicler of the history of many of the unusual sightings and encounters in the area. Jan began her work several years ago, while she was working at a local gas station and mini market.

                                   Jan Thompson, Tom Biscardi, and Angie Kinsey

One day, several Sheriff’s Deputies came by who were clearly emotionally distraught. Jan overheard them discussing what they had just seen. They were talking about a “crime scene” from an area called LBL. LBL is a section of Kentucky called Land Between the Lakes.

“Land Between The Lakes is an inland peninsula formed when the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded, creating Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley -- one of the world's largest man-made bodies of water. In 1959, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River, many recognized the recreational and environmental education benefits of what would soon become a near-island between two man-made lakes.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy created Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. LBL was formed to demonstrate how an area with limited timber, agricultural, and industrial resources could be converted into a recreation asset that would stimulate economic growth in the region. LBL is the country's only such national demonstration area.
LBL became a reality in 1964 when Rushing Creek Campground, LBL's first public recreation facility, opened. Today, LBL is the focal point of a $600 million tourism industry; it remains one of the most visited attractions in Kentucky and Tennessee.”
(reprinted from: http://www.kentuckylake.com/lbl/index.htm )

The discussion was about the finding of a family of campers who had been attacked and literally torn apart by an unknown assailant or animal. The deputies where in shock and clearly shaken by their experience. Although the incident was known about locally, the story quickly went dormant. It seems that some type of “gag order” was placed on the story and it disappeared over time. Possibly to protect the $600 million dollar industry surrounding the area? Now, we are told it never happened. However, Jan insists that she did hear it discussed by the deputies and she has researched it ever since! The Searching for Bigfoot team decided to go to the area where the massacre was supposed to have happened, at LBL. We made arrangements to meet Angie Kinsey of the Paducah Sun, a local Kentucky Newspaper. (www.paducahsun.com) We headed out to the area of LBL to meet with Angie at the Park Docent’s Office. We arrived several minutes earlier than Angie and went in to talk to the Docent. I asked the Docent if she had ever heard any stories about a creature in the area. She began to tell me that there had been stories from the area, but they were all false and probably told by local “pot smokers”. She went on to tell me that there was a local woman, a very talented writer who had written some stories about the creature, but she must have been a “pot smoker” too. She went on to produce an article written by a JAN THOMPSON, who happened to be standing right along side of me at the time. She explained that this person (Jan) must be a “pot smoker” too. The Docent’s story sure changed when I gave her my card from Searching for Bigfoot and then introduced her to Jan Thompson! If that wasn’t enough to make her quiet down, Tom Biscardi came over and let her know in no uncertain terms, just how seriously we take this matter! A few minutes later, Angie Kinsey from the local newspaper arrived… The poor Docent was left speechless!

From there, we headed out to the reported site of the reported massacre. It was near a section of park that contained a Civil War Cemetery specifically for black soldiers. One of which was the first Black Soldier to earn the Medal of Honor, Andrew Jackson Smith!

We had walked into the surrounding woods about 10 minutes when we came across a small game trail. TJ Biscardi headed off the path and began following the game trail. Within a few yards out, he found a print in the leaf litter! It was a clear left foot print that showed the foot with three toes. The two outside toes appeared to be missing. This, as it turns out, was to prove to be a major factor in verifying the authenticity of the print! Angie Kinsey was right there when we found the print and took several photos for her newspaper. She, along with Jan and the rest of our crew were totally shocked to find this print so close to the spot of the alleged massacre. We cast the print and headed on farther down the game trail.

             The print in the leaf litter...    TJ beginning the cast...           TJ finishing the casting process

We eventually came to the foundations of an old building. The foundation created a small brick shelter that could be used for shelter to this day. We inspected it for signs of habitation, but found none.

The weather was beginning to change, and it looked like a summer storm was on its way, so we decided to head back to town for lunch. By the time we got to town, it was storming! We stopped into a small local restaurant to eat. We stayed there about an hour then went out to get back into the truck. There was a car parked right next to us with a large man sitting inside. It appears that this man had seen our truck and waited for about an hour in the storm for us to return! The man introduced himself as Steven . Steve began by telling us we would not believe his story, but he needed to tell someone. It seems that Steve had been out at LBL about two years earlier. He was there collecting muscles from the waters. He had stopped up near the cemetery to smoke a cigarette when something attacked his car! He described it as a large ape like creature! He told us that it picked up and threw a large tree stump at the car which did substantial damage! Steve went on to explain that he was a power lifter and at 6’ tall and 300 pounds, he was unable to move the stump that had been thrown at his car! Steve went on to explain that as soon as he was able to start his car, he left the area. However, he came back the next day to investigate what had happened… He found foot prints in the mud… they were about 17 inches long and the left foot was missing the outside two toes! This matched the description of the print we had just found, in the same area! We had only cast this print about two hours earlier and had not shown it or told anyone about it yet! This verification of the description and location was amazing!

                                                 Steve and Tom Biscardi

Soon after our discoveries, the local paper printed our story. Angie Kinsey was there with us when we made our discoveries and printed it as she witnessed it. Both Jan Thompson and Steve have since contacted us to thank us for bringing closure to their stories. Prior to Searching for Bigfoot coming to their town and investigating what they had claimed to experience, most people thought they must be crazy or high on something, or both... now, the people in the area know that there is actually something out there that has not been classified by science and that these people are only sharing what they saw! Now the local people are actually interested in hearing more about Jan and Steve's experiences. The Searching for Bigfoot team will be monitoring the action in the area and planning our next trip to this area in Kentucky to continue this investigation. In the mean time, Jan Thompson will be working with us to monitor the area and document reports as they happen.

Soon after this experience, the Searching for Bigfoot Team headed back to re-visit some of our contacts in Kentucky area from our 2006 The Mystery Of The Clandestine Project . We wanted to check in and see if there was anything new to be found. We met with Mary Anne, the woman who lives down the street from where the now famous “Pancake eating video” was taken. Mary Anne told us that not much has happened since our last visit, other than the neighbors were less friendly now and she has been felt some harassment since sharing her story with us! However, she is glad she did and is strictly in our corner. She wants the truth to be known and is not afraid to help us find it! It seems that Mary Anne, being an octigenarian, is willing to stand up for the truth no matter what!

Mary Anne and Tom Biscardi

We took some time to take a few photos of the area before heading back to Wisconsin to meet with Steve Kruger, the DNR worker who had a creature remove a deer carcass from the back of his truck.

The area behind Mary Ann’s home

We left Kentucky and headed back to Wisconsin to meet with Steve Kruger, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), contractor who had reported an encounter with some type of strange creature back in November of 2006. Steve was not willing to talk to any reporters, but he was willing to talk to Tom Biscardi, the first person to contact him after his original encounter. We talked to Steve back in 2006, see our page WISCONSIN '06 . Steve is a large man, who didn’t seem like someone who would be easily shaken. He shared his story with us again. This time, it was eye ball to eye ball. The story did not change… Steve said he was picking up deer carcasses near Holly Hill. He had just placed an eighty pound carcass in his truck and pulled off the road to do his paperwork for the pickup. Suddenly, his truck moved violently. He looked back through his rear view mirror and saw a large creature picking up the carcass! The creature lifted the deer, and a steel ramp that had gotten tangled in the antlers, out of the truck and ran off. Steve doesn’t know what the creature was and never called it a “Bigfoot”. He did describe it and it fits the description we commonly refer to as “Bigfoot” except for the ears and the muzzle. This part of the description matches the sightings from the other areas of Wisconsin and Southern Canada… After meeting with Steve, we headed off to Florida. We had heard stories about the “Skunk Ape” swimming from island to island on the southern most tip of Florida. We had to go and see for ourselves what was really happening down there!