Newspaper: Cop Claims To Have Bigfoot Body
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 23rd, 2008
The Bigfoot body claims of Matthew Whitton have jumped into the mainstream media, for the first time, through the publication of a newspaper article in the Clayton News Daily. However, the story first broke here on July 11th, with followups on July 17th and July 23rd.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Cop claims to have body of ‘Bigfoot’By Daniel Silliman
A Clayton County Police officer, and his friend, claim to have the body of a Bigfoot.
The animal — a legendary, hairy hominid that supposedly lives in remote forests — is said to be dead, frozen, and “shocking.”
Matthew Whitton, a 28-year-old, who has been with the department for six years, and Rick Dyer, a 31-year-old former correctional officer, posted a video on youtube.com, last week, claiming to have the male Bigfoot corpse, alleged evidence that the much-hunted and often hoaxed monster, is a real, living species.
The video shows black garbage bags draped over a formless hulk, and promises revelations are coming soon.
“It’s not a mythological creature that there’s just one of,” Whitton says on the Internet video. “It’s a species that may be really rare, but they’re actually out there breeding.”
Whitton and Dyer co-own bigfoottracker.com, offering exploration expeditions in the North Georgia Mountains for $499, apparently with dogs, traps and tracking techniques.
Whitton, speaking to the Clayton News Daily the week before the alleged discovery, said the tracking business is an active hobby and he firmly believed in Bigfoot. He said he knew where a family of Bigfoot lived, in Georgia, and planned to lead an expedition to find them in September.
On their web site the next week, Whitton and Dyer announced an alleged discovery: “We have located a family of Bigfoot, and besides the clear photos and video, we have something even more shocking, a BODY.”
The Clayton County Police Department responded to the news with an official statement giving the department some distance.
“That’s his own personal business,” said Police Chief Jeff Turner. “That has nothing to do with the business of the Clayton County Police Department. As long as he’s not engaged in any type of illegal activity, his business is his business.”
Turner said it is against department policy for any officer to represent himself or herself online, as an officer or anything other than an individual, private citizen, and said he does not know that Whitton has violated that policy.
Whitton is currently on leave, recovering from a gunshot wound to his left hand during a response to a Stockbridge armed robbery earlier this month.
The people who believe in Bigfoot and are searching for evidence responded to the announcement with a mixture of disbelief, ridicule and hope. The Bigfoot Field Research Organization, a California-based group claiming there have been 61 Bigfoot sightings in Georgia, officially described Whitton and Dyer as “idiots” and “clowns,” and warned their claims are a scam to advertise their business.
Tal H. Branco, an Arkansas man who writes a regular column about Bigfoot research, said a lot of Bigfoot people think the whole thing’s a hoax, but a lot of people are hoping, too, that they do have a Bigfoot body.
“Maybe Whitton did obtain the hard evidence required to solve one of the world’s greatest mysteries,” Branco said. “It is apparently being promoted by a police officer that has everything to lose as far as his profession is concerned, if it is a game, a hoax or just a joke. On the other hand, if it is true, and the Bigfoot body is in his custody … his decision to announce it on an Internet web site before the body was examined by an expert certainly indicates a lack of good judgment.”
In one video, posted online by “RDYER678,” Whitton and Dyer interview a “pathologist” who is shocked at the Bigfoot, but then, in a follow-up video, the pair admits the “doctor of pathology” is actually Whitton’s brother. Standing in a kitchen, Whitton’s brother says to the camera, “Live and let live. What happened to that? Guys just trying to have a little fun, you know?”
Dyer said the claims are not a prank, though, and not just an attempt to have fun. Reached on his cell phone Tuesday, he insisted the body is real and will be unveiled on Sept. 1 on the web site.
“Why would we jeopardize Matt’s job? Why would we risk the embarrassment of the backlash that we would get? We just have a lot to lose if this is a hoax … I thought Bigfoot trackers and hunters were ridiculous and I made fun of them, to be honest, and I still do. They know nothing as fact. We do,” Dyer said.
Dyer said the Internet announcement and the obvious lie were meant to draw detractors and “build hype.” Other Bigfoot researchers were dismissed by Dyer, and he said he and Whitton are the best trackers because they “have a body.”
He said the animal is about eight-feet tall, and about equal to the size of “three silverbacks,” adult male gorillas, and nothing like the reported descriptions in the books.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “It’s a lot more than animal.”
Dyer did not say how they came into possession of the carcass, and declined to let a news reporter look at it, but swore it was being well-preserved and would be revealed.
Dyer said he and Whitton plan to sell the Bigfoot body and make a lot of money.
“As of right now,” he said, “we’ve been offered a million bucks for it, from a very credible source. But we’ll make 10 times that. This will change history forever.”
My prediction due to the publication of this by the local newspaper: Now the real media circus will truly begin.
Also, speculations will start that the Clayton County police department shall have to more closely look at Mr. Whitton’s action, for much of the credibility of this case has been propelled along due to the fact much was said in the early videos about him being a police officer.
Silly question I know, but I was wondering: If you have a body you have already said you were going to sell for $10 million dollars, why would you be wanting $499 to hunt for a live one? Won’t you have unlimited funding for such a hunt? And why would you be keeping your job?
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
it kinda reminds me of going to the fair and paying 50 cents to see a very large cow or the biggest horse.
maybe he’ll start charging to see the bigfoot arm behind a rope next to a bearded lady?
also what freezer can hold an eight foot BF? i can barely fit a 2 litter bottle in my fridge(get out the way you damn margerine!)
Hmmm. I find this quote to be intriguing:
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “It’s a lot more than animal.”
I have no doubt that, should the alleged body actually materialize and turn out to be all that Whitten and Dyer claim, many of us will be interested to know the circumstances surrounding the creature’s demise.
But that’s another discussion, which may or may not be taken up in October.
Curiouser and curiouser… if these guys don’t have the actual goods, then they’re totally digging their own graves by having a Police Officer on record as being a part of this thing, not to mention asking (and taking?) money for their “expeditions” based on the expectation that they’re legitimate trackers, which in turn is supposed to be fueled by the fact that they have a body.
Just… wow.
I can just imagine the media having all kinds of mocking fun with this. I just know it.
It will all “hit the fan” if Letterman or Leno deals with it.
Wow! Seems the officer thinks he is a lot smarter than he really is. Someone should explain to him the difference between “thinking you are smart” versus “truly educated”. It seems the only one he outsmarted with this immature and childish prank is himself.
You would think as a law officer, he would at least have a basic understanding of legalities. You would think that he would not even participate in anything that would jeopardize his job. The truth is, claiming you have a BF body, in an effort to sell trips for personal financial gain is fraud.
Fun and games? No! Fraud, yes! And to think that it was all a testosterone hoax in an attempt to get even with someone boggles the mind. I guess this “genius” did not think it out that far. You would have thought he would have known it would make a few internet waves. Then the local news would get involved. And then the national media would eventually show up. That will put his police agency between a rock and a hard place with the national exposure. They can defend his actions when it’s local. But now in the media spotlight nationally, and fraud taking place, you can rest assured his police agency has no other choice but to call in internal affairs to investigate! Uh-oh!
So this guy did this as a joke aimed partially at Loren and Cryptomundo readers? Afterall, apparently they were monitoring responses here. Again, so this is all a big joke? But on who or whom is the question. We all knew it was a hoax from it’s inception. And the officer thought he would have a few laughs, right? Well, who is laughing now officer? We are! And the joke is on you but from your perspective, it appears to not be so funny any more.
Good luck during your internal affairs investigation on fraudulent marketing to promote and sell merchandise and trips for financial gain. Hopefully, the money you will make doing that will be more income than the job you will shortly be giving up as a police officer.
Well your joked worked! I am sure laughing right now!
Well, the cat is out of the bag now… or is that scat?? 😉
*****Stinks on ice*******
This is like not having to wait until next week for a new episode of a tv series.
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“…. He said he knew where a family of Bigfoot lived, in Georgia, and planned to lead an expedition to find them in September.”
He knows where but lead an expedition to find them!
Kinda like I know where my car keys are but will you pay me a few hunded dollars and help me look for them?
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“……… the animal is about eight-feet tall, and about equal to the size of “three silverbacks,” adult male gorillas,….”
I still want to see the freezer that can hold three silverbacks or Mr. Foot.
______________________________________________ “……. and nothing like the reported descriptions in the books…….”
Then why do they think it is a bigfoot?
Beginning to wonder if they shot the neighbors mule and just don’t know the difference….:)
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I’m clueless as to why a cop would risk his career and his reputation on staging a hoax. I’m 70% sure this is a hoax, but I’m still hopeful. I hope I live to see the day when Sasquatch is proven to be real, just so I can see the look on Michael Shermer’s and Ben Radford’s faces when they try to justify their previous statements about Sasquatch 😉 .
I don’t believe it. And I don’t want to believe it. If the species exists, and I want to believe that they do, then the capture and/or recovery of a corpse would be the worst possible event. I have to think that they would be hunted to extinction (in the wild) very quickly and that assuming they can survive in captivity would be their only hope. How utterly depressing. I have wanted to believe in Bigfoot since I was a kid- I am happy to have them remain a mythic/folkloric critter. I want to know but I don’t want to know. Ya know?
I think everyone should just leave these creeps alone. It’s clear and certain that they have nothing in there possession and they received more attention then they deserved .Anyone who thinks that these guys have any credibility is sadly mistaken. What seemed to happen was that they couldn’t leave good enough alone. When they brought the brother out posing as a Doctor,that’s when they dropped the ball. They underestimated their audience. They went out of their way to shoot at the airport yet they’re calling us ‘obsessive’ and ‘pathetic’? I don’t get it. They came on to youtube slinging trash and putting people down, then when confronted and challenged, they put a spin on everything and started talking down to people.
People have to look at things more carefully. Do you honestly believe that these jerks have a 7 ft tall, 500 pound creature decomposing in their guest room. In a garbage bag with no refrigeration to boot. The Board of Health would have been all over this about a week ago if there was any validity to this nonsense. On the same note, while not mentioning names, I noticed some of the people from Cryptomundo went over to youtube and commented using words like ‘homicide’ and ‘murder’. Please people, stop talking about Bigfoot’s legal rights and whether this is a manslaughter issue or not. You know who you are. Can you please catch one first!!! Leave your liberal stance at the door until things are confirmed. You can demonstrate and embarrass yourself all you want later but can you get the body first? There are some on here who start screaming ‘murder’ once the topic of a bigfoot cadaver comes up. Please get a grip and join us in reality, it’s not that bad. This is just one more stupid reason the topic of BF is not taken serious, many flakes. Sorry folks it was getting to me.
It seems to be a joke to these guys. Is this the way someone should be acting after discovering the find of the century? A Bigfoot body, if I had to guess would be worth 10 to 20 million dollars. In other words these idiots won the megalottery ten fold, yet they are more interested in selling T-shirts, trinkets and what not. Would you be investing your time into stupid videos on youtube while knowing the world would stop once you came forward with the find of a lifetime.
I would never accuse anyone of something that I had no proof of but I don’t think the videos lie. These guys are on drugs or they are really bored, watch the video with the bear, is it really that funny or are the people from that neck of the woods just simpletons. They look like potheads. Or maybe its just the pain medication. Lets see, Vicodins plus a ton of free time equals boredom.
Can you imagine what Marque Donald (the guy the cop arrested) must feel like knowing he was taken in and arrested by a complete phony, incompetent, real life Barney fife, jerk off.
hey everyone, wow this whole possible sasquatch body saga finaly made it to the newspapers. well thats means cnn or fox news is next maybe, interesting new article thanks bill green
This is quite the show they are putting on. My thoughts are that the police officer doesn’t plan to go back to the force after being shot. If this is the case, making a mockery of himself online has no effect on his career. I am 100% sure these guys DO NOT have a bigfoot body.
These guys on this video remind me of average-type juvenile-minded rednecks who never really developed much ability for critical thinking or any amount of curiosity about the world around them. Like most cops and cop-groupies they sincerely believe they and their way of life are “right” and “correct” and everyone else is wrong and stupid for not being like them. Basically school-yard bullies and high school tuff-guys who never really matured beyond a 12th-grade point of intelligence or maturity.
They seem convinced that the cryptozoological community is full of mindless idiots who are credulous morons bent on accepting and supporting anything that appears to support any bit of reality in those “crazy” beliefs or interests.
My impression is that this whole idea originated as a plan to embarrass the community of Bigfoot-seekers/enthusiasts and potentially gain some financial benefit in the process of making fools of, from BFT’s perspective, “gullible idiots”. Somewhere along the line this whole childish, sophomoric prank exploded beyond all their expectations and has become a huge threat to all of BFT’s members credibility and employment. In the end I think they’ll be the butt of jokes for years to come.
As someone intimately familiar with these sorts of “good ol’ boys”, I see that they try to feign indifference and contempt for our community while secretly suddenly realizing how widespread and generally intelligent cryptozoological enthusiast/hobbyists are. I think they’re scared now, knowing their little insult and prank has blown up in their faces. Being too immature and arrogant to admit defeat at the hands of a generally well-read, skeptical, and highly-educated community they stubbornly continue to attempt to raise the stakes, expecting interest in them to dissipate sooner than later.
Unfortunately, they’ve stepped into a black hole of curiosity, antipathy, and indignation at their amateurish attempt to both exploit and discredit a tightly-knit and well-researched community of researchers, enthusiasts and hobbyists. Nothing good will result from their attempt to humiliate those of us who are open-minded enough to ponder possibilities. Most likely these Bigfoot Trackers will disappear into the masses of hoaxers and poorly-informed exploiters. By this time next year nobody will remember who these guys are. And I doubt any of them will still be employed as law-enforcement officers after this hugely public display of dishonesty and bad judgment. I certainly hope not. Nobody wants devious, arrogant, dishonest cops.
IF they have actually killed any kind of living thing, they might well have stepped into the realm of things unknown, with which they’re unlikely prepared for. If Bigfoot were real, and sentient, they have a murder on their hands. I hope, for their sakes, they don’t.
IF any of this was real the last thing anyone would do is conduct the whole episode in such an arrogant, dishonest and wholly unintelligent way. Why even remotely risk alienating the very base of your potential support? It’s beyond illogical; it’s downright tell-tale.
IF these were “real” trackers they would be far more knowledgeable about outdoorsmanship, tracking, fieldcraft and trapping than they have shown. They would far more at peace with the idea of unknown wildlife. They would be far, far more likely to show some kind of respect for any death.
IF they had anything at all worth showing the world it would NOT be done via a $300 pocket video cam.
Chances are, these guys will be foolish enough to actually take money from someone for this hoax, thereby breaking local, state and federal mail fraud laws. If that happens there could be very real legal ramifications. I hope, for their sakes, that they do not cross that line. If nobody gets hurt this will all be just another silly joke.
IF, in fact, anyone really has threatened them i encourage them to prosecute those people to their fullest capabilities. None of this is worth anyone being hurt, or even threatened, over. Period.
In conclusion: I don’t make any judgments. I don’t know if they are lying or not. My opinion is that yes: they are lying, and thought it would be easy to screw with “those Bigfoot people”. I doubt they ever thought there would be all this attention. I hope, sincerely, that this all just goes away, without anyone being injured spiritually, figuratively or especially physically over this whole episode.
Rayval- Do I honestly believe they have a 7ft tall, 500 pound creature rotting in their guest room? Simply, no. And I don’t think anyone has been given reason to believe it whatsoever. None of the claims have been verified in the slightest. I agree with your sentiments completely.
Let’s look beyond the smoke and mirrors at the reality of the situation. Really, in order to build our knowledge of what is real and what is speculation is to verify it through evidence. Just because something COULD be real does not always follow that it IS. And the way to sort out what IS? You have to look at the evidence, and follow it to where it leads. Think of how much less we would learn if scientists had to follow up on every baseless claim or story that came along. We wouldn’t learn anything new. There has to be something there to follow up on other than hope, and this case, what do we have? Nothing. I can’t even see any compelling circumstantial evidence that can possibly lead to something more concrete. What reasons have we been given to think this story has any reality? I’ve seen a lot of reasons to think it is suspect, none at all to think it is legitimate.
Maybe the claims are real, sure. Perhaps all of the naysayers will be pleasantly surprised when a body is shown. That sure would be swell. But seriously, there is no reason to suspect that with what we have to go on now. In my opinion, the way things are progressing, with nothing to substantiate it, this story is merely a curiosity. Why should we think otherwise? Because a cop or anyone else says so? Honestly.
Leave wishful thinking at the door and look at what is there. I echo Loren’s sentiments. Show me the body. In fact, I’ll go further and just settle for anything. Show me ANYTHING AT ALL that shows why I should consider this claim as genuine. I view cryptozoology as an honest scientific pursuit, not a dog and pony show.
Sorry to sound cynical but this sounds like another fowl-smelling Sasquatch story. My theory is that these kids have a plan to travel the world and their date of departure is, you guessed it, September 1st. What they’re doing with those $499 expeditions is raising money for air fair and other travel expenses. I love being right but this is one of those exceptions when I would not hate to be totally wrong…
Darn!
They found and dug up that “Yarwen” before I did.
Hopefully some major news outlets pick this story up and this goes way bigger than these guys ever imagined. I emailed the drudge report with a link to the news article. If he posts this, this will explode over night with press coverage!
A major overnight radio program appears to be ready to discuss this story tonight. They called me and we discussed me being a guest on air in a few hours.
However, I declined an appearance to talk about the story, for legal considerations/concerns, and besides, I am still suffering from Alberta jet lag. Also, I need more notice to go on such things, and fuller information about who else is going to be on the shows with me.
I predict that the bftracker guys may be ready to make the next jump to this broader level of media attention, as part of their grand plan with this “body.”
If you go on their website and “book” an expedition. through paypal you make a payment to [email protected] wonder which one of the “trackers” this goes to. Does one of them own a construction company? Is one of their names really Hector? Well if that’s the case they can’t even spell properly.
Good evening Rayval…
If you are going to reference and denigrate my comments on a Youtube video which has since been deleted …please do so in it’s proper context.
My comments were prefaced by the qualification…”if DNA analysis results indicate the genus Homo then these folks could potentially face homicide or manslaughter charges…with escalating legal entanglements”…still my humble opinion, as well as my attorney’s opinion as recently as this afternoon.
I have personally interviewed Federal, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement officers at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma, who have had “North American Aboriginal Peoples” in their rifle optics and declined to squeeze the trigger…how many Law Enforcement Officers have you interviewed sir?
Most of the “no kill” NA peoples I know recognize these magnificent creatures as an “ancient peoples” a primitive tribe if you will, with a “live and let live” tolerance, despite our disrespectful treatment of their habitat, watershed, food caches and themselves.
live an let live…
ole bub and the dawgs
I am bothered… I believe that the bigfoot species is real… but if these guys are telling the truth….
I seen that video and i found them to be hard to believe…
but the fact that they keep pushing the issue???
If they did hunt and kill an innocent Sasquatch type animal, I am truly bothered; no matter what this does to peoples ability to believe that these creatures exist…
I believe… i havin’t seen it … but that’s cool with me… as long as they got a place to live and there environment is not threatened, oh wait it is…. sigh
well anyhow… guess we’ll see on 9-1-2008 ???
I’m not sure where to begin.
But I don’t believe Bigfoot should be hunted or shot. I am sorrowful when I think of a dead bigfoot. These creatures are a last majestic mystery in our world. They should be studied in their own habitat. I fear the future of bigfoot is something like the circus or zoo or stuck in some science lab being prodded and poked. If these people do have a dead bigfoot (and I hope they do not) I think they should treat it more delicately. This species would be groundbreaking to the entire world and I pray that the search for this unsolved mystery doesn’t end like this. I feel that the end of this mystery lacks dignity. If this is how “proof” of the elusive bigfoot will surface, it will truly be the darkest day in cryptozoology the world has ever known.
The Most Beautiful Thing We Can Experience Is The Mysterious…
I feel the need to weigh in on the whole “legal end of things.”
People have come in on both sides on the “humanity” of bigfoot. It is a valid question. I’ve listened to lots of reports of people who have come across BF with guns in their hands to hear them say they have not taken the shot because what they were seeing was human like…at least enough similarity with humans to be unsure of whether it was a good idea to be shooting one of them.
That’s valid. I believe BF presents a moral issue as well as a cryptozoological issue–here at Cryptomundo and for the rest of the world. I am tired of the whole “produce me a carcass and I’ll believe you” line anyway. That is an archaic and outdated way of thinking that was good for science decades ago, but no longer.
For BF supporters, it means a harder route, but it just means more footwork to get to the bottom of the issue. Jane Goodall didn’t go out and kill or capture herself some gorillas to learn more about them…she went out and spent time with them.
I’m with Ole Bub–we can find and learn about the BF without laying one out on a slab to prove it…it will happen in time(finding more about them, not laying one out on a slab), but the key is not letting the nay-sayers dictate the rules of engagement. Just because they need to see a body, doesn’t make it necessary–I for one have always been of the mind–who cares if you don’t believe–good for you, but my belief in BF or Nessie or any of the other cryptids is in no way tarnished by the fact that some other person out there has the need to see a corpse before they can allow themselves to believe.
In a related story, a local woman is trying to locate her husband Earl. He was last seen when he left the house on his way to his Star Wars fan club meeting wearing his Chewbacca costume.
Puleaze!
First Johor, and now this. It’s been an active year for the con artists.
Just goes to show you what qualifications are needed to become a cop in this town.
Now they’ve “refunded” all July expedition payees. Wonder why? they say due to their media obligations, but could it be a legal issue of taking money for a hoax? They attack cryptomundo as well. oh well looks like they are sticking with their story. I don’t believe them one bit, but it’s very entertaining!
I don’t think these guys have a Sasquatch body, certainly not one unrefrigerated after this long a period of time in the heat of a Georgia summer.
But, if they did, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they killed the creature.
It could be that they came across a body in the woods, already decomposing, and carried it home. If that is the case, that the creature had already started the process of decomposition–which goes pretty fast in the woods of Georgia in the summer–they might easily have enough room in a cheapo from Lowe’s chest freezer to keep the carcass.
I still doubt that they have a body, or if they do, that it is actually what they say it is–it is more likely to be a half-decomposed black bear, for example. They don’t strike me as being very good woodsmen, so they may not be able to tell the difference, especially if the skull is missing.
I know that some of the BFRO researchers have the goal of trying to find an already dead Sasquatch, rather than killing the creature, because most of them have the idea that the creature is somewhat closely related to Homo sapiens, and such the ethics of killing one would be questionable. (I talked extensively with a BFRO member who is a zoologist after I reported hearing really weird roars and screams along with the sound of something huge dashing back and forth in the woods behind my house one night. I nearly went out into the woods to investigate, but I thought better of it when my brave dog cowered in fear and could not be pried out from behind the heat pump where she had wedged herself to hide. Besides, I think my husband would have had a heart attack if I had been so impulsively stupid. Especially if I had blundered off the thirty-five foot ravine during my putative investigation. But that is beside the point–I talked to him for a good long time, and he seemed a quite sober and sensible fellow who told me that he personally knew of people who had had a Sasquatch in the sites of their hunting rifles and couldn’t pull the trigger, because their instincts were that it was wrongful to do so–and I agree.)
So, it is possible that they have a body, and that they didn’t shoot it.
I just doubt it highly, myself.
Foot in mouth disorder. BIG foot in mouth.