Supporters Rally to Bigfooter’s Defense

Bob Chance delivers one of his lectures on the historical Bigfoot in Maryland.

If remarks to Cryptomundo are any sample, Bob Chance has a lot of understanding friends and fans. Members of the hominological, cryptozoological, civic, and environmentalist communities have lined up behind Bigfoot hunter Robert Chance.

The Examiner published a followup article about Bob Chance on Friday, June 20, 2008. It shows a change in tone, and the contents do some justice to the reality of the situation.

The headline, “Supporters Speak Out for Indicted Environmentalist,” demonstrates what I am hearing from the grassroots level (no pun intended), about the reactions to the publicity surrounding the state attorney’s charges against Bob.

Bob has sent word that he wants to let readers of Cryptomundo know that the positive comments here are ones he greatly appreciates, as he begins his battle not only with the court of law, but in the court of public opinion.

The newspaper dealt with the circumstances of Bob’s indictment this way today:

Members of Harford County’s environmentalist community lined up behind Bigfoot hunter Robert Chance, who is awaiting trial on charges of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

Chance, a former Bel Air town commissioner, teacher, environmental educator and keeper of Bigfoot lore, was indicted last month after a police search of his house recovered suspected marijuana plants and hallucinogenic mushrooms — enough to charge him with intent to distribute, according to State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly.

“He’s done a lot more good than bad, if that’s all he’s done,” said Tom Close of Bel Air, who said he had worked both alongside and against Chance as a real estate developer. “I don’t think he’d ever distribute anything.”

Chance declined to comment, but his attorney, Gus Brown, said any plants the police recovered in their May 12 search appeared to be immature and had yet to be tested and confirmed as marijuana.

Lynn Mullins, who said she and her son participated in a nature camp run by Chance last summer, expressed surprise that the state was pursuing charges against him.

“I think the charges are a bad use of resources,” she said. “Bob Chance is not the kind of person who would put anybody at risk, or put the community at risk. His entire life has been spent in service of the community.”

Chance had been a Bel Air town commissioner in the late 1970s, helped create Harford County’s first recycling center, and has made a hobby of collecting stories and evidence of Bigfoot appearances in Maryland.

Some speculated the alleged presence of marijuana was related to Chance’s struggles with cancer and efforts to ease the pain. Maryland does not have laws permitting “medicinal” marijuana, but doctors use an FDA-approved synthetic version called Marinol to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and lack of appetite.

Because the investigation was ongoing, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office could not release information on how much was seized from Chance’s Darlington tree farm and nursery, but Cassilly said the “intent to distribute” charges stemmed from the quantity of contraband, not the presence of money or packaging materials.

Chance is scheduled for an arraignment July 8.

Loren Coleman 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.

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