Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, July 7, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 3A
BIGFOOT: Casting
taken at Elkins Creek
SPECIAL PHOTO
This footprint was cast along the banks of Elkins Creek and
measured 17.5 inches long and 8.5 inches wide.
SPECIAL PHOTO
Above, this photo shows the difference in the physiology of
the human foot (right) and a casting considered to be proof
of the existence of the Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Neither of these
castings were taken in Pike County. Below, a Bigfoot cut out
appears to walk across a yard in the Concord area.
FROM PAGE ONE
"The Elkins Creek
cast enabled scientists
like Dr. Jeff Meldrum at
Idaho State University
and dermal expert Jimmy
Chilcutt to better demon
strate that Bigfoot is not
only a real animal, it can
be demonstrated to be
a unique species,” said
Steve Hyde, who searches
for the animals in cen
tral and south Georgia.
“People are surprised and
usually skeptical about
the existence of Bigfoot
in this area because
not only is it something
completely outside their
own experiences here,
they usually don’t see
how something like that
could possibly survive in
Georgia’s woods, particu
larly without being seen
more often.”
Hyde says he believes
Bigfoot creatures occupy
the same environments
that bears do, with simi
lar diets, feeding habits
and ranges, noting that
the Department of Natu
ral Resources estimate
there are hundreds, if
not thousands, of black
bears living in central
Georgia and sightings of
large manlike creatures in
North America pre-date
the arrival of Europeans.
He said the two major
differences between bear
tracks and Bigfoot tracks
are the actual shape and
the presence of both fore
and hind feet for bear and
only one set of prints by
the Sasquatch.
“A Sasquatch track is
elongated with a pro
nounced heel, whereas
a bear has a broad hind
foot which tapers to a
slightly pointed heel. The
track of a bear’s front foot
is completely different
from that of the hind foot,
being broad and short,”
he said.
Former PCSO deputy
Akin wrote a book called
Elkins Creek about the
incident and it is avail
able on amazon.com
and A Novel Experience
Bookstore is hoping to
get copies as well. Ac
cording to the book, Akin
was working the night
shift in Pike and a farmer
would call frequently
about an intruder on his
property. He and his wife
had a small dog who was
scared to go out of their
house around dark and
some of their animals
had been killed, includ
ing their chickens. Akin
often responded to the
reports of the intruder
from around midnight to
2 a.m. and the homeown
ers said they could smell
him, thinking he was a
person who might be liv
ing in the woods nearby.
Over a period of several
months starting in the
summer of 1993, the el
derly homeowners called
the sheriff’s office many
times, claiming strange
noises were heard out
side at night, something
banging on their trailer
in the middle of the night
and that outside dogs
and even livestock were
missing. The couple’s
storage shed door was
even ripped off its hinges
one night and only bags
of corn and dog food
were missing instead of
the expensive equipment
inside.
“The first weird thing
that struck me was the
smell. It would be God
awful. It wasn’t a rotten
carcass or a sulphur
smell. I don’t want to
smell it again, it was just
awful,” said Akin in an
interview with Expanded
Perspectives. He added
that a lot of times he
would have an eerie feel
ing that caused his hair to
stand on end.
On one call, the man
reported that he’d seen
it and said it looked like
a caveman or an apeman
and he’d seen it through
his bathroom window.
When Akin walked around
to see the window, it was
8 to 10 feet off the ground.
On a different call, the
homeowner showed
him where a 350 pound
uninflated back tractor
tire that had been filled
with dirt had been pulled
out of the ground and was
about 20 feet up in a tree,
hanging on a big knot.
“I searched for marks
on the tree from a pulley
or a chain or a rope but I
didn’t see anything,” he
said.
Akin suspected that
moonshiners, drug
dealers or someone liv
ing nearby was trying
to scare the family but
couldn’t find any evi
dence to collect. Months
later, after he had left the
PCSO but was still in law
enforcement, he revisited
the family early in the
morning in April of 1994.
He was walking along
Elkins Creek when he
found five huge footprints
in the water and on the
bank.
“I got down in the
creek and that was the
place where I suddenly
had everything I believed
torn away from me. I was
faced with an impos
sibility because what
was in front of me was
an 18 inch print and that
thing had sunk down an
inch or two. I was a hefty
boy at that time and my
prints were only sinking a
centimeter or a quarter of
an inch. I felt the weirdest
feeling come over me like
I was in mortal danger. I
pulled out my gun, turned
and looked in every
direction and I never saw
anything nearby but I saw
over on the other bank
was an indented place
where he pulled himself
up 8 feet or so and pulled
himself out of the creek
bed.”
Four of the prints were
totally submerged in wa
ter but one was in the fine
silt next to the water’s
edge. Deputy Akin’s cast
ing of that print is consid
ered to be one of the best
ever captured in Georgia
by Bigfoot enthusiasts.
“I have examined a lot
of material from casts of
the Rock Mountains and
have found little to really
catch my attention as
this cast did,” said Dr. Jeff
Meldrum. “This particular
footprint, immediately
upon looking at it, was
very consistent with the
proportions and anatomy
that I have examined with
other tracks that are as
reasonably credible as
one can establish.”
He said a “quite stun
ning” fact about the
Elkins Creek Print is that
the dermal ridges lacked
particular tension creases
that show up on human
prints but are absent on
the feet of apes.
“Right off the bat, you
have to ask: If someone
were faking this why
would he think to include
- even if he knew - a ridge
pattern that was devoid
of these flexon creases
and situated in such a
position and oriented
in a typical fashion that
is consistent with non
human apes?”
Police fingerprint ex
aminer Jimmy H. Chilcutt
of Conroe, Texas has
studied the prints of the
great apes, fingerprinting
them at zoos and at the
Yerkes Primate Center in
Atlanta and he wanted
to see how they differed
from human prints. In
a report delivered to
Meldrum, Chilcutt said
he found that the dermal
ridge patterns in the
Elkins Creek footprint did
not occur in humans or
any known primates but
they were consistent with
two prints cast in the
Pacific Northwest that
had similar dermal ridge
patterns and were also
unidentified.
Akin says he was a
sceptic on the existence
of Bigfoot until that day
he found the prints in the
bank of Elkins Creek after
so many unusual reports
at the property. He left
the PCSO several years
after the casting was
made and worked as a
law enforcement officer in
Spalding County, focusing
on criminal street gangs
in his later career. He
later left law enforcement
and became a teacher at
Spalding County schools.
His post-secondary edu
cation includes a bach
elor of science degree in
history and anthropology
from Georgia Southwest
ern State University
and masters degrees in
public administration and
education from Columbus
State University.
In his book, Akin en
courages readers to form
their own opinions about
the existence of Bigfoot
and other paranormal
phenomena.
Story compiled by Rachel McDaniel
of the Pike County Journal Reporter
and contributed to by Wayne Ford,
Expanded Perspectives, bigfooten-
counters.com and the Bigfoot Field
Researchers Organization.
Elkins. Creek caw
Cki Oj: Deputy n^ ln
Pint County. GA
1M7
FIRE: Panel created to
help with hiring chief
FROM PAGE ONE
Commissioners also
approved the 2022 LMIG
road project which will
include improvements
to Vega Road, Country
Brown Road, Banton Mill
Road, Twin Oaks Place
and McDaniel Road.
Concord Road was on the
list for 2022 but with a
scheduled bridge replace
ment in 2024, it was post
poned until the bridge is
replaced.
THE COUNTY ALSO:
• Appointed Dr. Benja
min Williams as an acting
physician to fill a six-year
term on the Pike County
Board of Health, set to
expire June 30, 2027.
• Appointed four mem
bers to the Pike County
Parks and Recreation
Authority board to fill
three-year terms set to ex
pire June 30, 2024, includ
ing Cory Brinson, Becky
DeGraff, Scott Smith and
Matt Wood.
• Discussed and ap
proved fiscal year 2021-22
committed funds, includ
ing $30,000 for land as
sessment update, $10,000
for a new deed program to
allow assessors to spend
more time in the field
and less on paperwork,
$4,500 for renovations of
the Probate Court office,
$8,000 of CARES funds
to make probate court
more sanitary and usable,
$55,000 for completion of
the new Animal Control
building and $4,755 for
CDBG grants.
• Approved use of the
courthouse grounds for
Charles Steck to host the
Georgia Bible Reading
Marathon on July 14 from
7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• Approved the issu
ance of an alcohol license
for the pouring of beer,
wine and distilled spirits
for Barnstormer’s Grill
and Event Center in Wil
liamson.
• Held a public hearing
and approved a request
by Jessica Booker to
operate a hair salon at her
home at 5660 Highway
18 west in Concord with
three conditions set by
commissioners.
• Held a public hearing
and approved a request
to allow for temporary
living quarters due to
medial hardship at 2510
Kings Road in Meansville
with five conditions set by
commissioners.
• Held a public hearing
and approved a request to
reinstate agricultural use
in a named neighborhood,
Durham Farms.
• Approved the 2021-22
contract with the Public
Defender’s Office.
• Authorized chairman
Johnson to execute the
Department of Family and
Children Services budget
for Fiscal Year 2022.
• Accepted a deed/ded
ication of Buffington Road
right of way, contingent
upon receipt and review
by the county attorney.
12U Red Pirates win league championship
The 12U Red Pirates recently won the leauge championship. The team includes Trinity Anthony, Alexis Begner, Heavenlea
Gebhardt, Larsen Palmer, London Priest, Laiana Rivera, Isabella Scott, Savannah Blue Selman, Tinley Shiflett, Taylor Smith,
Lindlee Stansell and Ashlyn Stephens. The team was coached by Josh Begner, Daril Rivera and Ashley Stansell.
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Pike County Journal Reporter
16026 Barnesville St. • Zebulon • 770-567-3446
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
jennifer@pikecountygeorgia.com