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Certainly not entirely and playing devil's advocate (literally for some people), I have to respectfully disagree with you guys here a bit for several reasons exclusive to the specific "claimed" circumstances and immediate biosphere now having spent so much time there searching and attempting to excavate there. I of course think the odds are highly unlikely... before anyone accuses me of definitively just accepting an amazing coincidence out of denial or something (I talk about remains when lecturing on the subject and have never found bear remains of natural death). As I’ve said from day one, with the state of recognition of tissue, timing (after 5 weeks) and immediate location (60 yards downhill from where they suspect the adult crashed off) it didn't make sense to me that this tissue could be from the large subject shot that day imo. Not ruled out as I thought it possible... but unlikely. These are some questions, thoughts and points (food for thought if you will to consider) I think are worth mentioning, though please understand I wasn't with them the day of the shooting (10/8/10), nor the day of the retrieval (11/12/10), hence I wouldn't guarantee anybody anything (and I never have), but as an investigator (amateur as we may all be) we need to look at everything imo. I’m also going to assume everyone understands the difference between “circumstantial†evidence, which is the tissue, and “non-circumstantial†evidence which would be the blood saturated boots in this case. First off, “if†the tissue was in fact from one of the purported subjects shot that day and assuming their story is accurate, by description, the tissue could only match the initial adult subject shot that after being clipped, went down on all fours and headed uphill into some dense secondary red firs before being heard crashing through trees maybe as much as 50-70 yds uphill. The juvenile shot, by color alone (very dark) would be logically eliminated as a tissue candidate, unless maybe sun exposure prior to several feet of snow dumping, lightened the hair enough in which in that case, I’d contend there’s almost no way for the flesh to be in relatively healthy condition it was in when it was purportedly retrieved, photographed and shipped off to Dr. Ketchum. First, they may believe it because they saw the shot location and impact but they don’t know for certain, by their own admission, that the large one expired. For all they know it could’ve waited them out and bled to death uphill, it could’ve died two miles away and bled out, heck for all we know it could have somehow made it and be the stationary subject in my thermal footage from 8/23/12. I think what everyone could agree on is that the tissue came from a deceased and not living subject. One thing noticed by both myself and especially my primary partner in everything bigfoot-related, Ranger Robert Leiterman (who btw, felt that no way could there be a correlation 5 weeks apart) is that the location of the tissue was 50-70 yards downhill from where they heard the only “viable†bigfoot candidate (adult) crash off and assumed to be near death. As I mentioned previously, the hillside is lined with dense red fir secondary. What we couldn’t understand, besides the 5 weeks and recognition state, is why the contributors large and small and predation events that would’ve certainly taken place post mortem, would've also brought the tissue downhill (assuming it’s from the adult) through all of those dense obstacles as if we consider predators subconscious need to reserve & conserve energy (needing less caloric intake) they should’ve theoretically dragged “up†before “down†with respect to particular tree & foliage layout of immediate area. At least in our opinion and as a 30 yr CA State Park Ranger and expert tracker, I value Robert’s opinion even more than my own in that scenario. As far as the similar hair color goes, I have no problem with bears in the area matching that color because Justin was right that almost all bears in the area have the same color. I’ve seen one there now myself (and one chocolate) and on the day before my thermal footage last August, Ro and Todd were driving up the primary road in the afternoon and both saw a bear with identical full body sun-streak color, emphasizing how cool and different the color was upon seeing and informing us. Is it genetic or are they sun-streaked from exposure and large canopy openings/medium tree density at 7000ft? Whatever it is, and I realize we’ve seen a small sample size (2 out of 3), most bears in the area appear to be that particular color and Justin was right about that. “Steak†has always been a deceiving description of what they had because it portrays the visual of a nice, thicker piece of meat when in reality what they retrieved in width can be measured in millimeters (thickness of attached tissue) and barely in inches. In other words, a piece of hide from field dressing (maybe poachers? As location is bear heavy in season and it’s a cul de sac patrolled by wardens in special permit area) is not impossible. What they claimed to retrieve via pictures represents “hide†to me but I can’t be certain because I’ve obviously only seen the processed pieces and was almost 9 months late to the party, though Justin agrees there’s nothing that rules out “dressed hide†when asked. But as Derek stated…Justin believes the likeliest scenario was that the tissue was from the adult subject shot. The story of the retrieval absent some critical details can be a bit deceiving if we examine those details and what was actually claimed. To most… they hear that they went back to look for the juvenile, couldn’t find it and then, very close nearby, “hey look, flesh on the ground that looks like the bigfoot we shot,†collect it, send it onto Ketchum, she claims bigfoot genome, our labs get bear and human contamination….end of story right? In reality, that’s not exactly how it happened from what they claimed…â€if†they are being truthful of course. They claimed reluctantly going back (actually they refused to go back before mention of possible monetary reward if they find “skeletal†remains) with bloodhound informally trained to scent bear, they get there and the area is so covered in snow they were surprised the gate wasn’t locked yet, they go to area where juvenile was placed and dig unsuccessfully for hours, then…on hill above and much closer to where juvey was placed than adult subject presumed to have crashed off and died, they are alerted to a specific area near a stump by the dog and proceed to dig, subsequently coming up with the Sierras tissue, including fat. In other words, if they are telling the truth, they don’t find tissue without the benefit of the dog. Looking at “all†pics of the tissue after retrieval, it appears relatively healthy and in pretty good shape for being out 5 weeks, hence, it was relatively fresh. One thing I’ve learned about Justin is that him and Jack consume the bears they’ve hunted and either field dress them, or do it back at home, usually within 24 hrs. I was told that from day one. This got me thinking recently now knowing firsthand how much they covet bear meat (btw for those that haven’t indulged, it’s flavorful and beefy…a least for the first 90 seconds you’re chewing the same piece) and was confirmed by Justin, they should have no frozen bear pieces possessing hair and hide. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t have gotten it from somewhere or someone else (anything is possible) however, but to them, that would serve really no purpose to preserve remains in such a way. Last but not least, thankfully Derek had the presence of mind not trusting both guys he didn’t know, to request them to GPS their location and document it in some fashion to prove they were at location on date of retrieval. Justin had pictures he showed me recently that he took of GPS site coordinates on 11/12/10 (time/date stamped) in the afternoon, potentially proving they went back when they said they did. Furthermore, they have several pictures later in same day with the Sierras tissue, including piece Melba received before it was cut in Justin’s hand. In other words, for them to …say… “defrost†a bear piece they would’ve had in their freezer to send in (which they know will be dna tested immediately) they would’ve had to do so before leaving, then drive 2 ½ hours to site and know they are just taking a picture to show they were there on that date/time, drive 2 ½ hours back home and have the presence of mind to take pics of defrosted bear on same day to get time/date/stamp. Not impossible, but would’ve took a lot of premeditation and this was never something they brought up as like a hidden bogey they possessed for insatnce, matter off fact, we just “pieced†(no pun intended) it all together recently. There’s much more to consider and sift through but I’m tired right now The only things I can guarantee anybody from my personal perspective is that: 1) I eavesdropped on both guys without their knowledge about 15 months ago and what I heard was an incriminating conversation in which both of them believed they were alone (they still don’t know what they said and barely remember conversation) and talked intimately about the events of that day including brief casual mention of leaving without the juvenile. Though understandably mere hearsay to you, it was very compelling from my standpoint because as I mentioned, the context of the conversation was almost impossible as it was so casual that even knowing the guys a hundred times better now, it’s hard to fathom if they were bsing each other (makes no sense) and like I said, if this was a missing persons case and they were the suspects and that conversation was taped and admissible, they were gone. Without this overheard conversation, I would’ve never given the event much of a chance, let alone investigated further. 2) Justin successfully passed a polygraph which even if you think it’s junk science, it’s not easy to do, especially from someone who fears they may work better than they do (and had “the sack†to take it with not much to gain) 3) After passing the polygraph, Justin was accompanied by 5 other people all on the shelf (at best) in regards to the reality of the claimed shooting event, they made a last minute decision to stay there on site (300 yds from killsite) and were subsequently stalked around perimeter of camp at 4:30 AM by two large bipedal subjects that even momentarily stepped out of the tree-line. Needless to say, all 5 of those people backed and supported him after and one broke down crying from the epiphany. Shawn and Ro who co-founded The Sierras Evidence Initiative with me, both were skeptics at the time of bigfoots existing at all, let alone the Sierras event being a reality. 4) Two weeks later on Au 23rd almost 23 months after the purported shootings and from 300 yds from where the purported shootings took place, I got 40+ minutes of thermal footage unexpectedly at 1:30 AM with Shawn right by my side, of multiple subjects that are definitively bipedal and taller than anyone in our party (all accounted for) who loitered just inside the tree line on a vantage incline and within 36 yds of a sleeping Justin and two of our companions (Ro & Todd) for over 90 minutes without making a sound and without the benefit of a light source. All six of us present are 100% positive what the subjects are (no viable alternatives) as are the people not present that night who were invited by me to come investigate the incident independently and participate in the extensive re-creation process. Those are the facts Jack, and I’m looking at astronomical circumstances either way. Either those four factual things happened because both Justin and Jack are telling the truth regardless of results (rather our labs or Melba) on circumstantial tissue (which I’ve always had little faith in as I explained) and they all fall right in line, or….. they made it this far lying and they are remarkable coincidences and I just got extremely lucky in an extremely viable, but seasonal habitat. Take your pick, “from my position.â€

Hallucinations don't leave tracks on the ground. Statistical data is just that statistical data. It can help you narrow down searches and give plausible explanations for a majority of sightings. But it's not the end all be all exclamation point to the mystery.

I looked at the maps on the blog and that's the exact area where I was this morning. However, his conclusion was a big piece of property, on the other side of the HWY, from where I was. I went to the same area from the 2009, 911 call. I don't think they were in that big wooded area as I remember it being part of something else... maybe Air Force base or something like that? Anyhow, the only homeless camps were in the area directly under the "A" marking. I'd have to go back and look at that larger area but I'm almost sure there's no access to it.