Posted on 04/14/2008 10:26:30 AM PDT by BGHater
‘It’ attacked a van in Bishopville and attracted a Bigfoot-hunting team to the state
BISHOPVILLE — Something apparently attacked Bob and Dixie Rawson’s van in the early morning hours of Feb. 28.
The Rawsons live about two miles southeast of downtown Bishopville. They woke up Feb. 28 to find the front fender of their 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan chewed up, bite marks through the front grill, wheels on both sides bitten and metal crumpled in a wad. There was also blood on the front and sides of the car.
While there has been no “official” sighting of the Lizard Man since July 1988, the Rawsons’ evidence has created a stir, not just locally but nationwide.
After the Rawsons contacted a Columbia TV station, the story was aired on CNN. In March, filmmaker and self-proclaimed Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi and his five-man team visited Bishopville to discover the truth of the Lee County incident.
Equipped with thermal imagers and high-tech cameras, Biscardi conducted initial forensic tests and sent the evidence to California. The team also planned to use its cameras overnight in search of the creature.
The initial evidence found by Biscardi’s team is compelling, he said. “You’ve got the real deal here.”
While Biscardi hasn’t ruled out it was a bear, he thinks it was more likely a Bigfoot. “They’re called different names in the different communities,” he said.
The creatures have three toes, Biscardi said. They range in height from 6 to 9 feet and weigh 300 to 800 pounds. They are hairy. They climb trees and move around by doing what Biscardi describes as knuckle walking.
More than 3,500 Bigfoot creatures exist nationwide, Biscardi said. “They’re nocturnal creatures and they’re migratory,” he said. “They move from south to north this time of year.”
Biscardi said he doesn’t know if Bishopville’s latest incident is related to the 1988 sighting of the Lizard Man.
“I am going to talk with Liston Truesdale, who was the sheriff 20 years ago,” Biscardi said. “But I’m mainly concerned with what happened to the Rawsons’ van. I haven’t fallen off a turnip truck. I’m a firm believer that what you have down here is unknown.”
Biscardi doesn’t buy local authorities’ theory that a coyote damaged the Rawsons’ van.
“You can look at the jaw pressure that it took to do this damage,” he said. “It wasn’t a coyote. I think what you have here more than likely is a Bigfoot creature.”
Biscardi said the Rawsons are good, straight-up people.
“I wouldn’t have come 3,100 miles here from California if I didn’t think there’s something here,” Biscardi said. “My main concern is to find out what’s happened here now. This woman (Dixie Rawson) is afraid. They have cats who haven’t come around since this happened.”
More than a month after the incident, Dixie Rawson said she is still concerned about what might be lurking near her home. “Let’s just say that when I go outside, I have my gun with me,” she said.
Biscardi said he works with state and federal officials in many states whenever there’s a sighting.
“I have to admit I have a problem here in South Carolina,” Biscardi said. “What is law enforcement doing to protect these people? Where is the Department of Natural Resources? Where are the game wardens? What is going on here?”
Biscardi’s 2007 film “Bigfoot Lives” won several awards, including best documentary at the Pocono Mountains Film Festival. The documentary includes videos and interviews that show evidence of Bigfoot sightings in Texas, Minnesota, Ohio and Arizona.
Lee County Chamber of Commerce executive director Beth Hedegor said the chamber is embracing the Lizard Man.
While she personally believes the creature that attacked the Rawsons’ van was some type of known animal, probably a bear, she said the publicity is a positive opportunity for the community.
“We are not fighting this,” she said. “This doesn’t have to be a negative. We consider this an opportunity.”
“Lizard Man is Back” T-shirts are for sale at the chamber office on Main Street, Hedegor said. Hedegor gets the T-shirts from Vickie Moniz, owner and operator of the Blossom Shop on North Main Street.
“We have sold more than a hundred so far,” Moniz said. “And we are ordering more.”
Moniz welcomes any publicity about the Lizard Man. “I think I’ll go out there (to the Rawsons) and give this team from California a free Lizard Man T-shirt,” she said.
More than 3,500 Bigfoot creatures exist nationwide, Biscardi said. “They’re nocturnal creatures and they’re migratory,” he said. “They move from south to north this time of year.”
The likelihood of these things being true is, oh, about nil, I'd say.
Well, if it’s stupid enough to try to eat a minivan, I don’t know what that says about it’s danger to us. Don’t hide in cars and vans? If it comes after you, throw it a car?
*snicker*
Yeah, and amazingly while we have enough photo and video evidence to prove that a Grizzly Bear does exist, we have yet to have one solid picture of this so-called creature having a refreshing drink from a stream...
Hmmm. Sounds bitter.
In order for over 3,000 large primates to exist in this country and not be regularly spotted would mean they have supernatural abilities, which would make the likelihood of their existence to be zero.
You’d think with no corpses found, or no live captures, that you are correct and this appeals to our curiosity, keeping the story alive. But there have been so many sightings, in nearly every state, that I have to give it a 0.1% chance. Too many people have had vivd sightings of upright walking creatures of this mold.
As many “bitter” Americans there are around this country during hunting season, I would say that the chances are less than zero.
This guy is not a big believer in Occam’s Razor, eh?
“Could be a bear, but most likely a bigfoot”
If it can bite tires and crumple up metal, it shouldn’t have a problem eating lead.
Where has Butch Rhino been lately?
Too many people have had vivd sightings of upright walking creatures of this mold.
It seems to me that what abounds are hoaxers and dupes. But I guess you had to be there...(grin)...
Yet no mention of anyone analyzing the blood... If these things existed, you'd be able to find a youtube video.
Jeez. With bite marks and blood samples, you’d think it would be relatively easy to determine whether the perpetrator is a hoax, a bear or a previously unknow species of animal.
Also, I would think that a forensic footprint analyst could determine the weight distribution of whatever made the print, thereby getting a rough approximation of it’s mass (i.e. a little guy wearing big fake feet, vs. an animal that really has the heft one would expect for a print that size).
Yeah, and amazingly while we have enough photo and video evidence to prove that a Grizzly Bear does exist, we have yet to have one solid picture of this so-called creature having a refreshing drink from a stream...
Well, there's the Patterson-Gimlin fake, uh, I mean footage...clear proof, for sure...
Right. And he clearly doesn’t understand the meaning of the words “most likely”...
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