Class A Investigator summary BFRO #721

Series of reports (6) concerning the Skunk Ape. Photos of the creature and footcasts

July 1997 around 2:00 pm Collier County, Florida

Account

On July 16, 1997, a tour guide driving tourists along a road stopped near a burned-out bridge and watched an upright, hair-covered creature for about 15 minutes from 70 to 80 yards away. The guide moved the bus forward and backward to give passengers views and tried to get a passenger with a telephoto lens to exit for photos, but no one would leave. The guide then drove away and could not relocate the creature on a later return.

Summary drafted by AI from the source report and checked by code before I publish it. The witness's own words remain with the publisher — read the original report .

What was reported

Every kind of observation in the account. Select one to find other encounters with it.

Sightings

Context & caveats

Described appearance

In the source's own words, field by field. Hover a field's marker to see where it was read.

Height src
approximately 7' tall
Hair colour src
brownish
Face src
no hair on face
Posture src
stood upright on two legs
Other features src
resembled a gorilla

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date
July 1997
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month
Time of day
around 2:00 pm
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Place
Collier County, Florida
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Location Details
Map point
25.92, -81.30 (± 4 km)
Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence
BFRO map layer point for report 721 with published boundary
Account type
Investigator summary
Derived BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Figures reported
1
Derived BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was
driving a tour bus with tourists
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness's word for it
large brownish colored creature
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification
Class A
Stated BFRO report #721 · BFRO classification label

Evidence & investigation

What the source says was found or done. Claimed evidence is listed as claimed; the Anomadex has not examined it.

Hair

A local resident searched the Turner Road area, reported finding brown hair on brush and large footprints, and made plaster casts of two tracks.

BFRO report, “Observed” section
Tracks

A local resident searched the Turner Road area, reported finding brown hair on brush and large footprints, and made plaster casts of two tracks.

BFRO report, “Observed” section
Cast

A local resident searched the Turner Road area, reported finding brown hair on brush and large footprints, and made plaster casts of two tracks.

BFRO report, “Observed” section
Follow-up

A local resident searched the Turner Road area, reported finding brown hair on brush and large footprints, and made plaster casts of two tracks.

BFRO report, “Observed” section

Source timeline

Every record this entry is built from, earliest known first. Records are versioned and never edited in place.

  1. Published 1997-08-23 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash 1c16684ac7ea
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
  2. BFRO map layer Reference
    Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7
    BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

The report refers to

  • “sighting from the Naples Trolley Tour out of Marco Island”
    Not in the Anomadex yet