Appearing on Bigfoot Busters Internet Radio Show to Talk About Bigfoot in Georgia

I will be appearing, once again, with Wayne Ford, the journalist from Athens about whom I wrote in my book BIGFOOT IN GEORGIA, on Bigfoot Busters Blogtalk Radio Show this coming Sunday, December 12th at 9:00 p.m. Click on the title of this blog post and the link will take you to the show's website at Blogtalk Radio.

I am excited about appearing again on this radio show. I was a guest back in September, along with Wayne, and it was a lot of fun. Tune in. I know you will enjoy it!

Ghost Video at Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia

A young man from Akron, Ohio came to Savannah, Georgia to visit his aunt for the Christmas break. For Christmas, he had apparently been given (or allowed to use) a new video recorder. As with anyone from other parts of the country, the young man and his family were excited about touring Savannah with its colonial, antebellum, Civil War, and Victorian era homes and historic locations. Most interestingly, the young man was eager to visit the city because he had heard it was the "most haunted city in the nation."

Upon visiting Colonial Park Cemetery, founded in 1750 and located in downtown Savannah, he captured something quite interesting on film. Fox News (I assume the local Akron affiliate) reported on the findings and someone has loaded the video on Youtube. The link to the site where the video is located can be found by clicking on the title of this story.

So was it the ghost of a young boy? The video is copyrighted, but follow the link to the Youtube story.

Happy Halloween Everyone

Happy Halloween to all of my readers. I have many more blog articles coming up in the next few days. I realize I have been kind of slack on posting these last few months, but with a new home and a few new responsibilities, it has been busy. But things are slowing down now, and I am looking forward to more posts. I just put up a few ghost legends today in honor of Halloween. Happy reading!!!

Ghosts of The Andersonville Raiders

Andersonville was the site of one of the biggest tragedies during the War Between the States. Although there were Union prisons with as gruesome carnage as what was seen at Andersonville, this prison is often remembered for its emaciated bodies, starving Union soldiers who suffered because there was a lack of food, and the awful stench of death associated with the place. However, there is another story about Andersonville that has endured in Georgia myth and legend.

Apparently, there was a group of Union prisoners called the Andersonville Raiders. This group stole, and in some cases, did physical harm to many of their fellow Union prisoners while in the camp-all in an effort to survive. Their bullying and pillaging became so intense, that when they were caught and brought to trial, it was their fellow prisoners who tried them and then sentenced them to hang, right there in the prison yard. Personnel and vistors to the site say that the apparitions of Union soldiers can still be seen here on these grounds. The phrases "Had to rob them," and "Couldn't have survived otherwise" can be heard floating through the air.

The legend is best described by the famous folklorist, the former Nancy Roberts in her book Civil War Ghosts and Legends. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in folklore and legend, particulary in the area of the War Between the States. Roberts, who died a few years ago, did a marvelous job of retelling the famous legend of the Ghosts of the Andersonville Raiders.

A Haunted School in Chickamauga, Georgia

One of the better books I have read recently was by Leslie Rule, the daughter of famed writer, Ann Rule. It is called Coast to Coast Ghosts. In the book, there are a multitude of stories from all around the U.S.A. One particular ghost story was from Georgia, and it was actually about a haunted school.
According to residents of the town and teachers at Gordon-Lee Memorial High School, there are a lot of strange things that happen there. Some report hearing voices and laughter echo through the halls when noone is in the school. The school was built in 1932, and the main building was originally a boarding school. The town itself is the site of the famous Civil War Battle of Chickamauga. It is reported that over 25,000 people died in two days during the battle. Chickamauga, the town, was used as a headquarters for the Union Army. Nearby the town, and school, a sharpshooter, atop his horse, combed the countryside shooting at the Union troops and spying. He was killed in the midst of his spying, but legend has it that night hikers in the woods were the sniper/spy was said to have ridden his horse can still see a pair of glowing eyes. They have given the spectre a name-Phantom Green Eyes.

It appears that this little town, way up at the northern border of the state, has its fair share of legends!!!

Evil Presence at the Eagle Tavern in Watkinsville

Watkinsville, Georgia is in Oconee County-the county just south of Athens-Clarke County, which as most Georgians know, is the home of the University of Georgia. As a UGA student, I traveled through Watkinsville a lot of Fridays headed home and on a lot of Sundays headed back. The Tavern is a landmark in the city, and it is a reminder of a bygone era in Georgia's frontier history.

The Tavern is owned by Oconnee County and the State of Georgia today, and it serves as a welcome center and local tourist destination. It has a very long history. Built in the early 1800s, the site was said to have once been part of Fort Edwards. The fort stood in this area where Creek and Cherokee Indian territory once intersected, and the fort was placed there by the state of Georgia as a way to protect against the frequent attacks by natives in the area whose hostilities, while directed at each other, were often directed at white settlers to the area. After 1820, the building became a stagecoach stop for coaches traveling back and forth between Athens and Milledgeville. The building housed not only a tavern, but also an inn, which I am sure was a welcome sight to weary stagecoach travelers in the early days of the 19th century.

The Eagle Tavern has not only been the site of rest for travelers and a place to find drink for the revelers, but it apparently is also a place where something evil still resides. According to Corinne Underwood in her book Haunted History: Atlanta and North Georgia, the Eagle Tavern has had its share of specters and weird happenings. One employee at the welcome center described the sight of a dancing lady. The apparition appeared to her out of nowhere and was wearing a pink dress. On other occassions, employees have heard the sound of loud/heavy footsteps in the facility when noone else was present, as well as the smell of cherry tobacco while noone was present who smoked in a facility that was non-smoking. Additionally, a group gathered outside witnessed what looked like a finger and hand in the upstairs window, but upon examination, noone was there (Underwood 27-30).

These instances have not caused a great deal of alarm at the Eagle Tavern; however, one startling event did. According to mediums who have visited the Tavern, there appears to be an evil presence in the basement. Paranormal experts refer to this entity as non-human or elemental. An employee had such negative experiences in the basement that she fears returning there. First, after coming in to contact with the presence, her eye became irritated, then infected. A sensitive told the employees at the Eagle Tavern that they should not go in to the basement because the entity could do physical harm. This was proven so true when members of the East Georgia Paranormal Society visited the Tavern and did an investigation. One member was physically attacked. The entity bit his hand and broke bones in it. Investigators said that you could hear the bones crushing on camera. During another investigation, a different research group picked up an EVP in the basement saying, "I wish you would die." Yet a third group investigated the Tavern basement when one of the researchers felt a pressure on his lower back as if he were wearing a heavy backpack. The video showed that there was a black figure standing over the man with what appeared to be elbows pressing down on the man's shoulders (Underwood 31-33).

Is there an evil presence in the basement of the Eagle Tavern in Watkinsville, and if so, what is it? Why has it decided to physically harm visitors to the basement? Could it be possible that this is an evil entity spawned by a tragic event in the tavern's past? The historic landmark has been a common sight to college students for ages. I wonder how many of them have taken the time to visit and find out what lurks inside. I know I didn't!!

October and Halloween Book Signings at Bell, Book and Candle

This October, Bell, Book and Candle in downtown McDonough, Georgia will be hosting a series of book signings in line with theme of the Halloween season. Here is the schedule:

October 16th-Dan Brooks
HAUNTED MEMORIES OF MCDONOUGH, GEORGIA

October 23rd-Jeff Wells (me)
BIGFOOT IN GEORGIA

October 30th-Reese Christian
GHOSTS OF ATLANTA: PHANTOMS OF THE PHOENIX CITY

In addition to these events, the bookstore will also be sponsoring "HorrorFest"-a series of fright tours on the hour each Friday and Saturday night from 8:00 p.m. until midnight. There will also be a tour of the McDonough Memorial Cemetery, complete with historical docents by candlelight. Check out their facebook page.
If you want to reserve a spot on the tours or come to the book signing, call them at 770-957-1880.

It Looks Like A Panther May Be Roaming Around South Georgia

It appears that there are more than just water and football wars along the Georgia border. This article, appearing at one of my favorite blogsites, Phantoms and Monsters, details a July 21st episode where a farmer in South Georgia spotted marks on the neck of his horse that looked like they were the product of a large cat, possibly a panther.

Click on this link and check out the story:
http://networkedblogs.com/6Bu5R

New Blog Talk Radio Show Devoted to the Search for Bigfoot in Georgia

Starting August 7th, 2010, there will be a new BlogTalkRadio show devoted solely to the search for Bigfoot in the state of Georgia. Shane Honea is one of the guys involved. Check out their site. Notice the cover of my book is on there too, as well as a link to the Amazon site where you can purchase a copy. They have extended me an invitation to be on the show a few weeks after it begins. I am really looking forward to this. Thanks to Shane and the other guys who are putting this together.

Conundrums Webcast About Bigfoot in Georgia

The interview I did with Jay Michael on Conundrums is now available on their site. Please visit
http://conundrumstv.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy. The interview was about Bigfoot in Georgia, my book.

Student Captures Video in Darien of What He Thinks May Have Been Altamaha-ha

Recently, I received a comment on the blogsite from a young man who is a student near Brunswick. Apparently, he was visiting Fort King Georgia near Darien a few Sundays ago, and he caught the footage seen on this video he loaded on to YouTube. After a few messages back and forth, he was able to describe the events of the day.

Bored out of his wits, he decided to visit the fort and go on the nature trail. As he came to the boat launch, he noticed an animal flapping around in the water. He took a few pictures with his Droid phone, but decided to try and capture video of it as well. The YouTube video was taken with his phone. He told me in his email that he wished it had been able to zoom closer, but this was as close as he was able to get with the phone camera.

He showed the video he captured to a woman who was working at the time at the facility. She told him that it was more than likely not a manatee because she had never seen one at that location. (I admit that this does not entirely rule out the possibility that it was a manatee.) He noticed a flyer about the local legend of "Alti", which is sometimes called Altamaha-ha, and he began to do some checking. He found some footage of a similar sighting in Florida. He also has been looking in to the behavior of manatees, and from what he has learned, the activity he saw from the aquatic animal he witnessed that day does not match what he has learned is the normal behavior of the manatee.

Check out the video. I have embedded it here, and I have provided a link to the YouTube video on the YouTube website. Simply click on the title of this post to see it.

So what do you think? Is there really a type of Loch Ness Monster swimming around the coastal waterways of Georgia?

Did You Know There Was A Volcano In Georgia? What About the Wog?

Did you know that there was a volcano in Georgia? Me neither, at least until I was doing some reading on the history of Winder, Georgia. In my research on Georgia political history, I have done a lot of reading about the late U.S. Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. He was from Winder. As I wandered across a book or two on Barrow County and Winder history, I found an interesting snippet of information about a place not far from Winder and the home of Senator Russell, that is oftentimes called Georgia's Volcano. This is not a volcano in the pure sense; however, the area, according to author G.J.N. Wilson, did not support vegetation, and the trees growing nearby were very small compared to those growing normally in other areas. The area was a few acres in size, and it was full of bubbling, bluish mud like sludge. The mud moved in some places, giving the impression that it was boiling. In fact, in the center, it had the appearance of boiling water. The Creek Indians called this area Nodoroc, somewhat akin to hell. They considered the area to be a place of great evil. In fact, it was said that living near the area was a monster called the WOG. It is the WOG that I find most interesting. They said that this was an animal with long jet black hair, the size of a horse, front legs larger than its hind legs, and had a small white sliver of white hair at the tip of its tail that if fanned up and down. The other spooky feature about this legendary animal was that it had a long forked tongue. According to Alan Brown in Haunted Georgia, the settlers in the area many years ago used to report that they could see the long forked tongue sticking in through the chinks in their log cabins. The Creek Indians said that the WOG was the devil, and that he lived in Nodoroc. The WOG was said to have only eaten carrion (rotting flesh-usually animal) but would attack if threatened. Other stories told about this legend state that the WOG would roam the area looking for small animals, some being dogs and cats, to devour. This legend is very strange. It is part of Creek Indian legend in Georgia. In one legend, a Creek chief, Umausauga, had a daughter that was being pursued by a Choctaw warrior. Not wanting anything to do with him, she rejected his advances. He killed her. When her father found out, he sent a party of Creek warriors to find the killer. They found him, cut out his heart and fed it to wolves, and threw the body in to Nodoroc to be eaten by the WOG. This is one of the coolest Georgia legends I have ever read about. I think it is more than neat that there is a huge area near Winder that used to be home to some sort of boiling mud-like substance that settlers called a volcano. The WOG, whatever it was, has to be one of the most intriguing legends. Has anyone else heard about this? You can reference stories in Dr. Alan Brown's Haunted Georgia, Jim Mile's Weird Georgia, and Frank and Victoria Logue's Touring the Backroads of North and South Georgia. In addition, the legend is mentioned in GJN Wilson's Early History of Jackson County, Georgia.

Dinner With the Author in Downtown McDonough

On Saturday, June 19th at The Season's Bistro in downtown McDonough, I will be discussing my book In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 as part of a dinner with the author event. The event will include dinner, an after dinner discussion of the book, possibly a train crash tour of downtown McDonough, and book signing. The books are available at Bell, Book and Candle on John Frank Ward Boulevard downtown.

I appreciate Lynn and Caprice for helping set this up. It should be a lot of fun. Contact Lynn at The Seasons Bistro about the dinner, and Caprice or Shannon at Bell, Book and Candle about the book.

Bistro-770-288-2544
Bell, Book and Candle-770-957-1880

Bigfoot in Georgia and Georgia Mysteries Website to Be Featured On Conundrums Netcast June 24th

I will be the guest on Jay Michael's weekly online video show called Conundrums. The show will be broadcast at the following website on Monday, June 24th.
http://conundrumstv.blogspot.com

We will be discussing my book Bigfoot in Georgia, as well as this website Georgia Mysteries. Tune in and watch me as I talk about the legend of the Georgia Bigfoot.

Bigfoot Obviously Angry at A Couple in Emanuel County

I am from this area, albeit about 45 minutes west of Emanuel County, but my mother lives less than ten minutes from the area in this report now. My friend Matt Pruitt investigated this report and posted it. I talked with him about it shortly afterwards. He commented that it was one of the more interesting reports from the state.

Apparently, a couple bought some property in Emanuel County. For those not familiar with the area, Emanuel County is about an hour or so West of Savannah, and the county seat for Emanuel County is Swainsboro, which is the home of East Georgia College. It obviously is the home to something else as well.

The incident took place near the Ohoopee River, a place where prints and other things have have been seen, indicating that there might be some activity along this waterway. This particular encounter took place in November 1982 when a couple purchased some property in the area that had once been a fishing camp. On the property was a small mobile home measuring 12x45 feet. On this occasion, the weather was a bit cold, with the person reporting the encounter mentioning that it was in the 20s. Being that it was getting close to winter, I can imagine that the air was crisp and cool.

The area where this took place was heavily wooded, and, as I mentioned before, the Ohoopee River is nearby. On this evening, the wife was in the kitchen, while the husband was in the living room of the mobile home reading. The couple had purchased the property and were staying in the mobile home temporarily until they could build their house on the land. Obviously, this ticked off someone, or someTHING. On that night, as both were quietly passing the evening, a loud howl erupted from the night and something violently shook the mobile home, almost tipping it off the blocks and supports upon which it was sitting. The howling and shaking lasted about ten seconds, an eternity when something like this happens. The man grabbed his firearm and quickly went outside to investigate. Nothing was there-anywhere.

As Matt Pruitt of the BFRO researched the report, he discovered that the man had lived there for a while after the incident. It was also mentioned in the report that the man reporting the incident had never even imagined that it COULD have been a Bigfoot encounter until he came upon the BFRO website and heard the Ohio Howl from 1994 recording posted on the site. He said it matched what he heard almost perfectly. Pruitt felt that what happened was the couple had "intruded" upon what was probably Sasquatch hunting ground, and that it might be possible that the animal was using the mobile home as a shelter. Afterall, the man reporting the encounter mentioned that the home had been abandoned for a little while before he and his wife came there, and that when they moved in, there was evidence that animals had entered the home. Pruitt feels most certain that this Sasquatch had been using it as a shelter, and the couple disrupted that.

This is a strange one to me. What makes it even scarier is the fact that my mother and stepfather live nearby, and my stepfather, who I had no clue believed in Bigfoot until my book came out, says that he hunts in the area a good bit. In fact, he and my mom own more than a few acres of wooded land in the area. They have dogs, and there is a pond not far from the back porch of their house on the property. If something like this was living nearby as recently as the mid 1980s, I am honest in saying I am a little nervous for them, and a little nervous for myself too. For I visit their home at Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. HMMMMM............

Bigfoot in Georgia and other book signings at the Geranium Festival in McDonough

I will be joining two other local authors in a book signing at the Geranium Festival in McDonough on Saturday, May 15th. Bell, Book and Candle will be hosting a few local authors, and I am included. I will be signing copies of my book Bigfoot in Georgia, as well as copies of In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900, and Moments in McDonough History. The signing will be in the morning hours and last until around 2:00 p.m. The address is 45 John Frank Ward Boulevard, McDonough, Georgia.

Come out and visit or pick up a personalized copy of all three books.

Great Book on Georgia Mysteries by Don Rhodes

Recently, I had to opportunity to start an email friendship with an author, Don Rhodes. Don has spent many years covering the country music (as well as some other genres) scene for various newspapers, mainly in the Augusta, Georgia area. He came upon one of my blogs and emailed me. Little did I know that he and I would have such a great time emailing one another. I will have the opportunity to meet him in person this summer when he does a book signing in the McDonough area.

Don has written Mysteries and Legends Georgia: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained for Globe Pequot Press. This is a great book. In it, Don talks about some very interesting mysteries from the Peach State. Especially interesting is the mystery of where Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, is buried. In addition there are stories about Susan Hayward, the lost gold of the Confederacy, John Ross and the Cherokees, Jimmy Carter and the UFO, the curse on Jacksonborough, and the Georgia Guidestones. I have blogged about a few of them here before. I especially appreciate Don's sense and love of history. Not only is this book a good read for those looking for nice little mysteries from Georgia, it is quite educational in the sense that he has included the history behind a lot of the areas from where these stories of mystery originate.

Don is a great writer, which shows in this book. I highly encourage my readers to check out a copy of this book, and Google his name to see the other fascinating titles he has to offer!

Bigfoot Sightings Still Happening in Georgia: Clinch County October 2009

It appears that the hairiest residents of the Peach State continue to be noticed by innocent by-standers just passing through. The latest sighting in Georgia, according to the researchers at the BFRO, was in October of last year in Clinch County.

Clinch County is located near the Florida border. It is one of the largest counties in the state by land mass, and there are tons of acres of forested, untouched areas in the county. The report in question here centers around a couple who was driving through the area on their way back home to Florida. Here is what they had to say. I have taken this from the report issued at the BFRO. This report can be found at www.bfro.net.

And I quote: "On October 7, 2009 at about 11:30 pm , my wife and I were returning to Weeki Wachee , Florida from a trip to North Carolina . We were driving south on US 441 in an unpopulated area at about 65mph. We were about halfway between Homerville and Fargo which is slightly west of the Okefenokee Swamp . It was very dark with very scant traffic and we were the only car in sight. There were no other lights visible anywhere and no houses or businesses anywhere around. My wife had turned on the map light because we were getting low on gas and we needed to check the distance to the nearest probable area for gas. She was looking down at the map and didn't see it, but she sure smelled it. Years before , we had been camping in the Okefenokee Swamp and were aware of the wildlife diversity. I have hunting , camping , and Brazilian jungle experience and I am not easily frightened, but this shook me up. It was an instinctive reaction similar to when you have a surprise encounter with a poisonous snake.

I saw a very dark brown/black constant colored tall humanoid figure standing on the left shoulder of the road , quarter facing toward the road and toward the direction of our travel. The figure was standing still, very vertically erect with both arms loosely down at its sides. I couldn't see any facial features or individual features of hands or feet. I estimate it to be about 7 ft. tall and weigh between 200 and 300 pounds. It was lanky rather than stocky and was not crouching forward , but was standing very vertical. The smell coming into the car vent was very powerfull and was a combination of sewerlike and a strong musky animal odor. There was a small animal roadkill a few yards down the highway that was fresh , so that wouldn't account for the fowl odor. We conjectured that the creature had smelled the roadkill and came out of the woods to investigate. The hair on the head was long and stringy, but the rest of the body hair seemed only two or three inches long and layed down rather than sticking out in a fuzzy fashion. The thing that struck me was that I couldn't see any facial features or varied colors around the hand areas.

We thought about turning around to re- investigate, but in the middle of the night , I frankly didn't think it was prudent. We proceeded to the next major intersection to buy gas, and I asked the station employees if anyone else had mentioned something unusual or if there were any kind of unusual wildlife sightings in the area. They answered 'no'. That was the end of our incident.

All but one of the sketches I have ever seen of creatures anything like this , showed a more stocky crouching ape-like creature. What I saw was a tall, lanky , humanoid creature that looked almost "helmeted" because of the way the head hair fell straight down similar to a woman with long straight hair. I could see no neck . I don't know what I saw but I will never stop my car at night anywhere that area."

The above report was investigated by BFRO researcher Ken Johnson, who found that the couple was very credible. Johnson added this to the website as a result of his follow-up interview with the couple.

And I quote: "I spoke to this witness by phone, and he described his credible encounter in great detail, both in the report, and also as he related it to me. I can add a few details to his account after speaking with him.

The figure he saw looked tall and lanky, and looked rather 'spider-monkey-like' to the witness, rather than stocky and ape-like, as he has heard of other bigfoot-type descriptions. It also had arms that were longer than those of a human's, reaching almost to it's knees.

The animal did not seem to react, or to be concerned by the passing of their car, but seemed fixed on something nearby, possibly the road-kill that the witness and his wife mentioned as being a short distance down the road.

When the couple stopped for gas and asked some of the locals if they were aware of any unusual animal sightings in the area, one man told them, after hearing the description of the animal they had just seen, 'you saw a swamp ape'.

Additionally, the witness told me that this sighting had been quite disturbing for him, even though he is not normally shaken by most situations. He also said that if armed, and presented with a situation in which it became necessary to shoot at one of these animals, it's human-like appearance would make that very difficult to do."


Of all the Bigfoot research organizations that handle sightings nationwide, I trust the BFRO the most. Not that everyone else is lying, but the BFRO has such a vast network of supporters, a high standard for those conducting research and following up on reports, and a membership with diverse skills, that they stand very tall in a crowded field. If anything, this report signifies that people are seeing something in Georgia, and the activity continues to this day. Clinch County, if you know anything about it, has a lot of the very things that Bigfoot researchers tell us are needed to sustain such a species. Interesting.....

A Haunting In Georgia: Interview with Joyce Cathey

Since opening the blog, I have had several people request that I do something on the Heidi Wyrick saga that was documented by The Discovery Channel's "A Haunting." The episode was called "A Haunting in Georgia." It featured the Wyrick family of Southwest Georgia, a family that had been tormented by the presence of spirits in their homes and on their family property.

Recently, I caught up with Joyce Cathey, Heidi's aunt, who has co-written a book about the ordeal called THE VEIL: HEIDI WYRICK'S STORY. Her co-author was Rebecca Harrington. Joyce is a very pleasant woman, who enjoys discussing what she and her family has gone through with anyone interested in learning about the subject. As a matter of fact, there is a movie deal in the works. I emailed Joyce some questions and she was kind enough to email me back the answers. Thanks, JOYCE!!!
The email interview is below. GM=Georgia Mysteries, and JC=Joyce Cathey

For those of you who are not familiar with this story, click on the title of this blog article, and it will take you to the website that the Wyricks and Joyce have established. Also, check out "A Haunting in Georgia" on The Discovery Channel.

GM:Why do you think what happened did happen to your family?
JC: We do not know why these things happened. This questions is asked a lot and believe me, we have searched for answers for the past 20 years and are still searching. I don’t think we will ever know for sure.

GM:What more can you tell me about Heidi's interaction with Mr. Gordy?
JC:Heidi began talking to Mr. Gordy at the age of three. Her initial interactions consisted of almost daily visitations and she’s had many conversations with him. She has memories of him pushing her on the swing and helping her learn to ride her bike. But after the Unsolved Mysteries episode aired she became the target of comical antics from her school mates and was treated very badly through her middle school years. Heidi eventually stopped talking about Mr. Gordy. She hated the fact that she was gifted, if you will, and tried to shut it out and as time progressed his visits became less frequent.

GM:Were there any negative vibes associated with Mr. Gordy?
JC: There were never any negative vibes from Mr. Gordy. She always did, and still does, feel that he was her protector of sorts.

GM:Have you or anyone else associated with the haunting ever contacted or been contacted by the Gordy family?
JC: My sister, Lisa’s mother, talked with Mr. Gordy’s daughter on a few occasions and also kept contact through letters. She visited with Heidi on a few occasions but lived in Florida. She asked Heidi to tell her dad that she loved him. Mr. Gordy’s daughter is recently deceased.

GM: Do things continue to happen now?
JC: Things still continue to happen although not as frequent as when she was younger.

GM: How does the family handle these things?
JC: Things were very difficult for the Wyrick family in the beginning because no one knew what was happening. As you know, it was several years before the connection was made and his identity was confirmed. The Wyrick’s had a lot of support through their family, friends, and also their extended church family. My mom was raised in north Georgia and a place known as ‘Hainted Holler’. She, too, was born with a veil and has always been able to see things, though her abilities were not as strong a Heidi’s. So we were always familiar with stories of the spirit world and believed that there was something beyond our own dimension.

GM: Tell me more about the book and how it came about.
JC: When the events shifted from benign to becoming violent I knew I had to document them. Initially I wrote them down just to keep up for our family, but interest throughout the community ran high and after recounting the same story over and over again, I had no choice but to publish the things I’d written.

GM: What can you tell me about the upcoming movie about the hauntings?
JC: Gold Circle/Lions Gate films bought Heidi’s life rights in March, 2009. The status has now in the production phase and filming is slated to begin in late spring or early summer. Hopefully, it will hit theaters in the fall.

I will be researching "Hainted Holler" as I can. This sounds like a very interesting place. Joyce even mentioned that she was interested in doing a book signing in McDonough at Bell, Book and Candle in the near future. I have been working on getting that set up with the owners of the bookstore. This is where I have done both of my book signings.

Georgia Bigfoot Shot and Killed in 1943?

In my recent correspondence with Wayne Ford, the journalist at the Athens Banner-Herald about which I wrote in my Bigfoot in Georgia book, I learned that there was a mysterious story about a Bigfoot in Georgia that was shot and killed. This story appears in John Green's book, Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, published in 1978.

According to the story, which appears on page 370-371 of the book, the story of this killing was told to a man named Rich Grumley, who was with a bigfoot research group based in California. This was not the BFRO, as the BFRO was not founded until the 1990s. A man told this story to Grumley. Rich Grumley has since passed away, according to an article in The Bigfoot Times from July 2009. Nevertheless, the story goes that in 1943, a county in Georgia experienced the mysterious slaughtering of sheep and calves. The animals had been attacked by something that was pulling their legs off. The county must have been in the North Georgia Mountains, for it was said that local men chased the perpetrator onto a small mountain where they shot it 60 times, one slug hitting it in the eye and piercing the brain. The men collected the dead carcass, loading it on back of a pickup truck and bringing it back in to a nearby town. The man who reported this story to Grumley said that the animal was so large that its torso was wider than the back of the pickup and its feet dragged the ground due to it being so long. The animal was covered with reddish-brown hair, but the palms of the hand, face, and soles of its feet were bare. There was minimal hair on its head and chest, and like so many Bigfoot sightings, there was a terrible stench associated with the creature. The report goes on to mention that the animal was buried under a pile of rocks.

Like Wayne Ford, I speculate that the story may be more legend than fact. Granted, as Ford stated in a letter to me, a small mountain town newspaper might not have had access to a national wire service to report such an event, but most surely this incident would have been plastered all over the front page of the local paper. The problem here is that noone associated with this report knows in what town this took place, or supposedly took place. Nothing comes up in a news search. It would have been the talk of the area had it happened. However, as I cannot confirm this report, I cannot in good conscience totally deny that it happened. Afterall, 1943 was smack dab in the middle of World War II. The biggest "boogers" out there to most people, especially in the South, were the Nazis, Facists, and Japanese. Many boys were fighting overseas, and reports from the war front would more than likely have dominated the news at that time-local and state, not to mention national. Perhaps this was an isolated rural incident that took place in a town with NO local paper, so the residents of the community had to rely on a paper from another place. With so much going on-war, depression, Communist scare-perhaps there was not much attention paid to this by news reporters at the time.

If anyone has ever heard this story in their locality, please email me. I would love to find out more about it. John Green was contacted by Wayne Ford, and Green knew no more than what was printed in his book. Grumley has died, and noone knows the name of the man who reported to Grumley. Stumped, I am!!!

Reese Christian, Author of Ghosts of Atlanta, To Appear at Bell, Book and Candle

Reese Christian, the author of Ghosts of Atlanta, will be doing a book signing and book discussion at Bell Book and Candle in McDonough on Saturday, February 20th starting at 1:30. She will sign copies of her book, as well as copies of the 25th anniversary DVD of the movie Poltergeist, on which she was a guest commentator for the special bonus footage on that anniversary edition.

She will also be the guest speaker on the McDonough Haunted History Tour, and will be leading an investigation at Bell, Book and Candle, as well as other "haunted" locations in downtown McDonough later that evening.

Reese's website can be located at www.reesechristian.com.
For more information, call Bell Book and Candle at 770-957-1880 or email them at bellbooksandcandle@hotmail.com.

More Good Reviews for Bigfoot in Georgia: This one from the Southeast Sasquatch Association

I just saw where the owner of the blog, Southeast Sasquatch Association, reviewed my book today. Here is his post on his website. Click on the title of this article to see the website. Here is a clipping and pasting of his comments:

Taken from the Southeast Sasquatch Society Website:

"Friday, February 05, 2010
Book Review: Bigfoot In Georgia by Jeffery Wells

Really good book on reports from the Peach State

This book, written by the social sciences and education department chairman for Georgia Military College's Atlanta campus, is a really terrific treatise of reports from the southern state. It covers reports mainly from a logical area, the North Georgia Mountains, mainly the northern counties in the Peach State. There are also reports from the metro Atlanta area near the town of Newnan, the same area the movie Deliverance was filmed in. Sightings from southern Georgia are also profiled, more particularly the Georgia/north Florida border. There is also an entire chapter devoted to the fairly famous Elkins Creek cast, which was examined by Jeff Meldrum and Jimmy Chilcutt and given the stamp of approval. Names such as the Belk/Belt Road Booger and the Happy Valley Horror are given to localized Sasquatch creatures, and frightening encounters are also recounted. Organizations such as the Georgia Bigfoot group are profiled, along with a reporter, Wayne Ford, who not only writes about Sasquatch, he investigates them as well. The recent infamous hoax is skimmed over very quickly and hardly mentioned, which is a good thing, because the book is really good and informative enough without it. I highly recommend this book, which from what I understand is the first in a series highlighting reports from all 50 states. **** out of *****
Posted by bf2006 at 9:45:00 AM"

Chad Arment, Author of The Historical Bigfoot, reviews my book, Bigfoot in Georgia, on his blog

Chad Arment, who wrote the book "The Historical Bigfoot," reviewed my book," Bigfoot in Georgia," on his blog at www.strangeark.com. I have clipped and pasted his review below. A link to his blog can be accessed by clicking on the title to this post. Overall, it was a positive review.

This is taken from his blogsite, www.strangeark.com/blog, author and creator-Chad Arment.

"Monday, January 04, 2010
Bigfoot in Georgia

The publisher recently sent me a copy of Jeffery Wells' Bigfoot in Georgia, so I'll note a few things here for potential readers. First the basics:

Bigfoot in Georgia
Jeffery Wells
Pine Winds Press (Idyll Arbor); 2010
ISBN 978-0-937663-17-2
165 pp., retails for $18.00

Let me start off pointing out that Amazon currently has the book discounted (on pre-order) to a bit over $12, so don't be afraid of the $18 price tag.

The book covers Bigfoot sightings in Georgia, including regional Native American tales, some early newspaper accounts, and other stories up to the present day. There is discussion in the first chapter on the overall history of Bigfoot sightings, another chapter discusses the Elkins Creek cast, and he devotes a fair bit of text to specific organizations or researchers (for example, a chapter on journalist Wayne Ford).

The author is a professor at Georgia Military College (Atlanta campus), and his ability to write is certainly above par for the subject. This is a decent state guide on the topic, and the author handles it objectively. It looks like most of the reports come from other researchers and organizations, so the scope of sightings may be familiar to the more well-versed Bigfoot enthusiasts. That's not a bad thing -- if anything, more regional Bigfoot organizations need to seek out individuals like Wells to organize and write up their files in a professional manner. Too many guides (or websites) are haphazard or don't convey an objective approach to the subject. I would have liked to have seen a more thorough survey of sightings in this book, but I suspect it would be too difficult to manage that while dealing with the various personalities in Bigfoot research. That's one reason I don't bother with this topic much myself."

Upcoming Book Signing for In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 and other media items

I will be in Cobb County signing copies of In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 on Saturday, February 6th from 9:00-10:30 a.m. for Eagle Eye Book Shop at their set up at the Southeastern Flower Show in the Cobb Galleria. Eagle Eye Book Shop is located in Decatur, and I did a book signing at their bookstore back in October on the night before Halloween. If you are in the area, drop in.

In addition, I have been contacted by James Wojonowski and Jeff Cooper of J2 Productions, a local production company in Henry County, about appearing in their documentary on the train crash. Others will be interviewed as well, but James wanted me to appear and discuss my research on the crash and the book. I really appreciate them asking, and I am a fan of their work. Check out their videos on Youtube. Go to www.youtube.com and search for Henry County Georgia or McDonough, Georgia and several of their videos should come up.

Caprice Walker of Bell, Book and Candle is working with me on organizing a book signing for my new book Bigfoot in Georgia very soon. I will update you on when that will be.

I will also be a guest speaker at Paranormal Expo 2010 in downtown Atlanta on January 30th. I will be discussing Bigfoot in Georgia. This is being sponsored by our good friend, Dr. William Lester, on whose show I have appeared several times. I am excited about being asked to be there, and it looks like he has some pretty interesting people lined up to speak. I can't wait. Click on the title to the post to see his website and information on the event.

The Atlanta Ripper-Who was the serial killer stalking the African American Community in Atlanta in the early 1900s?

For four years in Atlanta, beginning in 1911, someone terrorized the African American community and became known as the Atlanta Ripper, a play off the name of the famous London killer in the Whitechapel district in the late 1800s known as "Jack the Ripper." For those four years, an unknown killer, or as some put it, killers, roamed the dark streets of Atlanta, preying upon young African American women, as well as some of mixed race. The list of victims swelled to over 20 people, as the city was in the grips of fear over where and against whom the fiend would strike next.

The Atlanta Ripper claimed his first victim in January 1911 with the murder of Rosa Trice. Trice's body was found near Gardner Street, and it was in a severe state. Her head was crushed and her throat was cut, some saying it was slashed from ear to ear. Other victims were found in the Grant Park area, and by the spring of 1911, the killing spree had grown. Other victims included Belle Walker, Addie Watts, Lena Sharpe, Sadie Holley, as well as others. Perhaps the most frightening encounter came with Emma Lou Sharpe, a young woman that many think came face to face with the Atlanta Ripper AFTER he had killed her mother.

On July 1, 1911, Emma Lou Sharpe, at home on Hanover Street, was awaiting the return of her mother, Lena Sharpe, who had gone shopping for groceries. Realizing that it was dangerous out on the streets because of all the murders, Emma Lou became worried about her mother after she had been gone for over an hour. Knowing it was not the better part of wisdom to go looking for her, Emma Lou decided against her best judgement and went out on the streets. She left home and went to the market in search of her mother. She was terrified to find that her mother had never gotten there. While she was returning home, she came upon a stranger, a tall black man with broad shoulders and donning a broad-brimmed black hat, according to Corrina Underwood in her book Murder and Mystery in Atlanta. The man spoke to Emma Lou, asking her how she was feeling. She replied that she was fine, after which she began to walk away. The man stood in her way and told her not to be afraid. He further commented that he never hurt "girls like you." He was definitely lying, as seconds after he spoke those words, he pulled a knife out and stabbed Emma Lou in the back. Luckily, Emma made it to safety, as she ran screaming from the scene. A crowd of neighbors heard her cries and came running. The stranger was nowhere to be found, but at least Emma was okay. The same could not be said for her poor mother. Her body was found later, and it was deduced she was dead by the time Emma Lou was out on the streets in the midst of her encounter with what most definitely must have been the Atlanta Ripper.

Another young woman had an encounter with the Atlanta Ripper and lived to tell about it. Her name was Mary Yedell, and she was a 22 year old cook in the employ of W.M. Selcer. When leaving for home on Saturday, July 8, 1911, she encountered a stranger who she described as tall and black. She was so frightened that she ran screaming back to the Selcer home and alerted her boss. He ran in to the alley where he found the stranger and confronted him. The man disappeared in to the darkness and was not seen afterwards by anyone involved in the incident. Young Mary Yedell had fortunately escaped with her life. That was not the case with over two dozen other young African American women on the streets of Atlanta.

There were several arrests made including Todd Henderson, Henry Huff, John Daniel, Henry Brown, and Charlie Owens. However, Todd Henderson and Henry Huff were brought to trial and found not guilty; after the arrest and incarceration of John Daniel, murders continued casting the shadow of doubt on Daniel as the murderer or at least making it appear that he did not work alone; Henry Brown was acquitted after it was revealed that the Atlanta police had beaten a confession out of him, and Charlie Owens was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for one of the murders. Many doubt that Owens was guilty, and others point to the fact that after Owens was put in jail, the murders continued.

So was Owens the only Atlanta Ripper? Was he one at all? Was there more than one, or was there only one, and the police never knabbed the right person? The killings did not stop until 1914 with the death of Laura Smith. Henry Harper was arrested as a suspect. However, there was never a definitive answer as to whether or not the men who were arrested and convicted worked alone, or if they were just copycat killers and the real Atlanta Ripper was still at large and was not responsible for ALL the murders. It was quite possible that there was more than one, and that they worked together, but most criminologists say that serial killers work alone. Was this the case with the Atlanta Ripper? In an interesting turn of events, according to Underwood in her book, during the trial of Leo Frank who was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, it was said that Jim Conley, also a tall African American man, was involved in Phagan's murder. Detective W.J. Burns even went so far as to say that not only was Conley guilty of killing Phagan, but that Conley was also the Atlanta Ripper. As Underwood points out, nothing ever came of this and Conley has never been blamed for those crimes other than by Burns. The fact remains that the Atlanta Ripper murders are a mystery. Was it the work of one serial killer? If so, was he inspired (terrible choice of words I know, but need to make a point) by what he read of Jack the Ripper some decades earlier in London? Or were some of these killings the work of a copycat killer(s)???? This is a very interesting true crime story from right here in Georgia.