This was many years ago when I was about 10 years old... I'm 52 now. I want to share this story for the purpose of simply having it on record in case others in the area might happen upon it and realize they weren't alone in their sightings. The good part about this is that my brother (two years older) was with me and he saw it as well. We had 5 acres of wooded land behind our old house and beyond that more and even deeper woods. I'm guessing it might have been around noon and we (my brother and I) had cut down a couple of maple saplings, sharpened the ends of them and were throwing them like spears at a small old decaying pile of straw. All at once we heard a very loud roar (I think you can call it a roar) I can't quite remember now the exact sound for sure. We both looked up and saw the silhouette of a beast standing straight up at the edge of a patch of woods and I remember distinctly that it was tall - seemingly about 8 feet tall and as it roared it had its arms (both of them) straight out to the sides. It was a silhouette because the creature was standing in a wooded area which had an opening behind it that had sun shining brightly in the area.
I can remember that this was the first time I could almost keep up with my older brother running... and run we did all the way home. I don't remember what happened at home if my brother had told my mom and dad or not but I don't remember much happening or any concern or investigation by our parents.
FYI - We had quite a few strange things go on around our old house. Fireballs whizzing by my father's head, my two younger brothers causing quite a stir in the house saying they saw two red eyes looking into their upstairs windows. Later in the mid 70s I happened to talk to another girl who told me about a cow mutilation down the road a mile or two on Sunbury Rd and she spoke of an acrid, sulferish smell associated with it. I loved the old place and the area and these events make its memory even more special.
I received these reports from a woman who e-mailed them to me after viewing my web site. I publish these reports for you the reader to decide on your own as to whether or not you think what is being reported is an authentic report, and to see what type of sighting reports are surfacing, whether they're a few days old, or in this case, decades old.
"My sister and I had our own experience back around 1968 at our home in Concord, which is just north of Chardon, OH. It was mid-summer and she and I were about 15 & 16 years old. She and I had just walked beyond the garage and something caught our attention in the woods. The back of the property is wooded and the house sits in the middle of four acres. She and I were suddenly surprised to see some type of creature moving fast on our wooded path just inside the woods. At first we thought it was our teenage neighbor playing a trick on us, but realized it couldn't be him. It was much bigger than him and was furry. Next we thought maybe it was a bear, but bears don't walk upright like a man. This was tall and hairy with heavy, big shoulders and arms that swung very quickly as it moved. It still seems unbelievable after all these years. It happened so fast and took us by surprise, but only a few moments afterward we came to realize it could have only been a Bigfoot sighting. I know our sighting was quite a long time ago, but I'll never forget it and have always wondered why she and I didn't try to report it to someone. I wonder if you've had any other reports of sightings in Lake County? As a matter of fact, my sister is now married to a man who is the only other person we know locally who also had a bigfoot sighting one night around the same time while driving on a dark road in Leroy, which is just east of Concord."
“I was fifteen when I had what I considered my first close encounter with Bigfoot. We were living near Byer, Ohio on Richland Furnace Road. It was wintertime and two friends and I were walking along the railroad tracks going back into Richland furnace. There is a small cave near the railroad tracks I had been in several times. The cave opening is about the size of a large door and inside the cave and to the left is a large flat stone that resembles a table. My two friends and I saw some large tracks in the snow so we decided to follow them. The tracks were larger than my prints and farther apart than I could stride.
They led to the mouth of the cave and disappeared inside. With the careless abandon only a teenager can have, I walked up to the cave and entered the opening. The interior of the cave was dark so I stopped at the opening to let my eyes adjust. As I looked in I saw a very large, gray, longhaired animal asleep on the rock table. If it WAS awake, it certainly made no attempt to move or pay attention to me or my friends and I wanted a closer look. However, my friends apparently saw the look on my face and decided they should leave. As I turned around they were already a hundred yards or so away and gaining speed. Deciding I was not nearly as bold by myself I quickly overcame my friends and led the way home. I told mom and dad about the animal and dad and I went back to the cave with our gun but the cave was empty.
This potential Bigfoot encounter happened near Richland Furnace during the summer of 1969. A friend and I had been trail riding in the area and stopped at the furnace to climb around and inside the furnace. There were still some old foundations visible on the hillside up from the furnace. As I was standing beside a small stream I happened to look up toward the foundations and saw what I could only describe as two “Apr Men or Big Foot” looking back at me. My friend also saw the creatures and immediately took off on his bike. I was a little more spellbound and the creatures and I stared at each other for a few seconds before they simply disappeared behind a rock. There were two of them, one larger than the other and they looked like they had been leaning out from behind a large rock. They had curious Expressions on their faces and did not exhibit any kind of threatening actions. After we stared at each other it was like they simply pulled themselves back behind the rock and disappeared.