3 Men Claim To See Bigfoot Near Walla Walla

WALLA WALLA - A man who has frequently claimed to have encounters with a legendary creature dubbed Bigfoot says this time he's got witnesses.

Paul Freeman, a former Forest Service employee, said he and two other men saw a tall, hairy creature Saturday in the Blue Mountains, about 25 miles east of Walla Walla in the Mill Creek watershed.

Freeman, who claims to have spotted a similar creature four other times, brought back part of a tree he says Bigfoot twisted, some hair samples and two plaster footprint molds.

He will send the molds and some hair to Grover Krantz, an anthropology professor at Washington State University who has investigated Bigfoot claims.

Freeman went on the expedition with Walla Walla resident Wes Sumerlin and Bill Laughery, a former state Game Department employee.

The trio said they first spotted signs of the creature's presence: a strong odor, small twisted trees with clumps of long black hair and large footprints, 15 inches long and 7 inches wide.

Then Saturday, through the dense timber, they saw Bigfoot, nearly 8 feet tall and a hairy tan-brown, Laughery said.

Although they had still and videocameras, the three said they were unable to capture the creature's likeness because of lack of light in the dense timber.