Searching For Bigfoot: Winter 2006 Bigfoot Expedition Diary

Bigfoot In Funk's Grove, Illinois

February 2006

About 15 miles south of Bloomington, Illinois on Route 66 is an old growth stand of mixed deciduous trees, dominated by sugar and black maples of record size. This grove is part of a homestead created by Isaac Funk back in 1824. Today, a seventh generation of the Funk family oversees and maintains stewardship of this historic place. The area is much as you would have found it over a century ago. Currently, a major portion of the original homestead is run by the Sugar Grove Nature Center. The Director and Naturalist in charge is Angela Smith. Another section of this unique and protected area, is managed by J&A Farms, owned by David R. Park and Eric L. Funk. From these unique and wild areas have come reports of a large manlike creature.

Tom and Chris Vielock, local residents of the areas near Funks Grove contacted Tom Biscardi, the CEO of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., and asked him to bring his team in to investigate these reports. Searching for Bigfoot Inc., contacted Angela Smith of the Sugar Grove Nature Center at Funk’s Grove and obtained permission to enter the area and complete a preliminary investigation.

The team began by doing an evaluation of the area to see if there would be suitable habitat to support a large omnivore. They looked to see what food items would be available, is there fresh water near by, is there shelter available, is there sufficient cover to conceal a large animal, and what other large animals inhabit the area. The trackers determined that there is suitable habitat to maintain a small population of bears or other large omnivores and suitable topography to accommodate areas for concealment or even hibernation.

Once our team of trackers investigated the area and confirmed that these criteria could be met, we began meeting with the local residents to see if there might be confirming reports from additional people in the area. When we first approached people in the area, many people acted as if we were not serious. However, once they realized we took this subject seriously, they began to open up to us and share their experiences. Soon dozens of reports of sightings and encounters began to be shared with us. The descriptions and experiences were remarkably similar and consistent across the entire sample of interviews. The bulk of people we met were warm and sincere willing to share with us openly. Some people even shared photographs they had taken in the area that they could not explain.

Here is Lee Hickman setting up a ‘trip camera’ in the woods near Funk’s Grove.

The Searching for Bigfoot team felt there was sufficient evidence available to warrant a serious investigation. We came back to the area, along with the local media to set up some night trip cameras and check again for some tracks or signs of the alleged creature.

Although we were not successful in finding any physical signs of the creature during our short stay, we do feel that the area is capable of supporting a large primate and we would like to do some more intensive searching in the near future. Tom Biscardi will be attempting to contact Angela Smith in the very near future to try and work out a schedule for a more in depth investigation. In the mean time, check our web site; SearchingforBigfoot?Create.com to see what the team is doing and what we have found in our travels.

Mountain Pat Heaton investigating the Funk’s Grove area at night