Class A First-hand BFRO #55224

Memory told of daylight sighting while dirt bike riding east of Freeburg

29 June 1996 5:00 pm Freeburg, St. Clair County, Illinois 1 witness

Account

The witness was riding a small motorcycle to a lake in old strip mines in the late afternoon. She saw a hairy figure squatting at the water's edge appearing to sift or dig with its hands. The figure turned and moved very quickly toward her, prompting her to flee; when she looked back it was gone. A relative later checked the spot and found no sign anyone had been staying there.

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

Partial sighting

Described appearance

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

Height src: six foot tall
Hair colour src: brownish
Face src: large amount of white hair with a rough expression
Hands src: sifting water with hands
Gait src: very quick and bounding
Posture src: squatted
Other features src: very hairy

Facts & provenance

Each value names where it came from.

Date	29 June 1996 Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, labelled fields: Year, Month, Date
Time of day	5:00 pm Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Time And Conditions” section
Place	Freeburg, St. Clair County, Illinois Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, labelled fields: State, County, Nearest Town, Location Details
Map point	38.43, -89.87 (± 1000 m) Stated BFRO map layer · BFRO published map layer · read with 85% confidence BFRO map layer point for report 55224 with published boundary
Account type	First-hand Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witnesses	1 Derived BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Observed” section · read with 80% confidence
Figures reported	1 Derived BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Witness was	riding a small motorcycle Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Other Witnesses” section
Witness's word for it	a man Stated BFRO report #55224 · BFRO report, “Observed” section
Source classification	Class A Stated BFRO report #55224 · 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.

Investigated by: Stan Courtney (BFRO)

Follow-up

A relative visited the site after the encounter to look for signs of someone staying there and found nothing.

BFRO report, “Observed” section

Follow-up

An investigator spoke by phone with the witness and a relative and summarized the encounter details.

BFRO report, “Follow-Up” section

Source timeline

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

BFRO report #55224 Primary

Published 2016-07-19 Retrieved 2026-09-25 Version 1 Hash 747b3d845463

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization
BFRO map layer Reference

Retrieved 2026-09-24 Version 1 Hash cfb8a3d423b7

BFRO - Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

The report refers to

“sightings of what people called the "silver creek freak"”
Not in the Anomadex yet