LITTLETON, N.C. — Tifanie Merrill’s seen large footprints circling her home. The trash at the base of the steps by her front porch has completely vanished.
She doesn't feel safe at her house and she thinks it's because of a Bigfoot creature.
"I literally could see him from all the way over here. I started hearing it, hearing it," Merrill told WNCN. "It was very large, and its hair was super long and it was running so fast."
She described it to WNCN as a large gorilla. She saw it weave through trees, crushing large branches in its way.
Merrill notified Stephen Barcelo, a self-described cryptozoologist who investigates sightings of unknown creatures. He also runs the Cryptozoology and Paranormal Museum from his home.
Barcelo took a cast of a footprint the animal left in Merrill's yard.
"There's a lot of people in this town who's had sightings who still won't come talk to us because just out of fear of being ridiculed," Barcelo told WNCN. "And that's very common."
Barcelo said he recently took a cast of another strange footprint found at nearby Medoc Mountain State Park.
"We brought it in and they ended up calling another ranger and then another ranger and then the superintendent," Barcelo told WNCN. "All bets were off, they had no idea what it was."