Sasquatch hunter coming to Tri-Cities

KENNEWICK, Washington, USA—When Jeff Meldrum goes into the backcountry, he keeps his eyes, ears and nose alert for signs of Sasquatch.

For 12 years now, the author of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science has been on the hunt for evidence that will prove or disprove existence of the legendary tall, apelike creature described in hundreds of sightings across much of forested North America.

Meldrum, an associate professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University in Pocatello, will talk about his research at a free 7 p.m. Thursday program at the Kennewick Library, 1620 S. Union St.

“As a scientist I don’t have the answers yet,” Meldrum said in a phone interview Tuesday. But he hopes his research will be fruitful.

“I’m quite personally convinced there will be a new species of primate confirmed,” he said.

Meldrum said he has more than 200 casts of what may be Sasquatch footprints—each a five-toed impression up to nearly 14 inches long and more than 5 inches wide found at various sites.

Some of those he collected himself in 1996 near Walla Walla, where he had gone to talk to a man who had reported finding tracks in the Blue Mountains. His interest in the legendary creature dates back to when he was 11 years old and saw the famous film taken by Roger Patterson near Bluff Creek, Calif., of a purported Bigfoot running away.

As an expert in primate and human locomotion, Meldrum looks for detail that shows the mechanics of how a Sasquatch foot differs from a human’s. The Sasquatch footprints show a foot that flexes in the middle, more like an ape than a man, he said.  Read Article

By John Trumbo