Digging Up The Dirt with KillDozer and Bigfoot Investigator Jami King

Every year, KillDozer and his family take a trip to the town of Willow Creek to partake in the Bigfoot Days, an annual festival and parade that celebrates the hairy creature. This year, he also had the opportunity to connect with someone hunting the elusive Sasquatch to learn about their practice and what they hope to achieve. 

KillDozer: First off tell me about yourself and what you do.

Jami King: I'm married to my childhood sweetheart and live on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. I have a degree from Comenius Univerzitá, Slovakia in German/Ethnology, linguistics. 

KillDozer: You mentioned to me that you had an experience that changed your life and sent you looking for answers. Can you go into detail about that experience and where it took place?


Jami: My encounter with what I believe to be Bigfoot happened shortly after my father passed away. My father lived with my wife and I during his illness with bone cancer. He eventually passed away and I used nature as my healing. My wife, Jenny, and I would take hikes with our dogs everyday along a beautiful lake in Pennsylvania, called "Shenango". It was there where we had our first experience. I remember before the hike along a turkey trail, I said to the Universe; to God, "to give me a sign that my father was with me." That was just the beginning of something that would forever shape the way I thought about everything. As we continued to hike, we reached the water where a creek feeds into the Shenango lake. Our dog started acting strangely; she's a beagle so it's not normal for her to shake or want picked up. My first thought was that ️maybe she'd been stung with a bee or stepped on something that injured her, not realizing she was sensing something we had not yet become aware of. No sooner had I picked her up, my wife and I heard a vocalization so loud, it shook our bodies and we watched a puddle beneath our feet, ripple. Neither my wife or I could say a word, we both stood silently staring into one another's eyes. My initial thought was something prehistoric. Silently as we watched trees moving and mass appear, we agreed to turn and leave as quickly as it had happened. As we started hiking out, back to the trail head, we heard huffs and whoop sounds behind us, with bipedal sounds. At one point it sounded like multiple surrounding us as the noise came from both sides of us. 

We eventually made it back to our vehicle and still said nothing the entire way home. Finally at home we both shared our thoughts about what had happened. We immediately researched animal vocalizations online and found no match, until our friend suggested we look up, Bigfoot vocalizations. We came to a recording called,"Ohio howl", which was recorded by a man named Matt Moneymaker; it was EXACTLY what we had heard. Coincidentally recorded in what I've learned is Wellsville, Ohio; 30 minutes from where our encounter happened.
Going over and over in our heads, we traced that day and still couldn't believe what had happened as we both know most if not all animal noises associated with the Shenango.
I'm not sure how many weeks later, we took our friend Roger back to the same area to show him where it had happened. Roger was studying to be a game commissioner so we felt confident he could make sense of what we may have experienced. We showed him the exact location and started hiking out. Almost back to our vehicle, we heard what sounded like a human talking, a dog bark and a whistle. Worried that a dog would come out, I asked my wife to get the dogs on the leashes. Expecting to see a human or dog come out of the ravine area, nothing; emerged. Roger and I went to the edge of the ravine to see who or what had made the noise. We saw something rise up out of a thicket and move quickly and directly away from us. It was covered in brownish black hair with a human head and massive shoulders covered also with hair. What we both noticed was how it moved, with ease through what would be impossible for a human. Straight down a cliff side with thick thorny underbrush. Both Roger and I attempted to follow it, but couldn't as our clothes were getting snagged by the thorns. We did see an area where it had been possibly sleeping. 

Continually thinking about that day, it hit me on my way to work, had I thought about every detail, one detail escaped me. The very first encounter, I'd asked the universe for a sign from my dad that he was with me. I was driving my car and had a memory about my dad, that I feel plays a huge part in my experience. I remember watching a movie with my dad. I really wasn't watching it as much as he was. I remember looking at him laughing and thinking to myself, this could be the last time I spend with him or hear him laugh. I was in all essence taking in everything I could about him as I knew he was getting sicker and sicker from the Cancer. As I drove and retraced this memory, it hit me. The very last movie is watched with my dad was Harry and the Hendersons. It was this memory I couldn't shake as I knew if my dad wanted to get my attention, it would have to be something big.

It's my feeling that thought and prayer, as corny as it sounds, has power and it's my feeling after a long time thinking aligns things for us. It may be coincidence but I think it's something more. I started researching the laws of attraction and how the universe aligns things for us. It can't be scientifically studied as far as I know, but it's the direction my research has taken. My wife and I both know there's something about Bigfoot that is more, for lack of a better word. We both now research on a micro level the area of Shenago where our encounters happened, because it's our feeling of Bigfoot evidence is to be found, it's on a micro level and makes the most sense. 

KillDozer: Before having this encounter were you a believer in Sasquatch - aka Bigfoot? 

Jami: Not at all. 

KillDozer: Where do you go when investigating?


Jami: We research on a micro level, studying and collecting prints and other people's encounters in and around the area. We've made a map of supporting evidence and encounters only to find multiple and including an encounter from thirty years earlier in the exact location.  

KillDozer: Do you follow sightings in certain areas? 


Jami: We use waterways as a means of tracking and study maps of the Shenango. All weather conditions and everyday of the year to find times of sightings. We learn from what we know and listen, observe every little detail from our hikes. Times of year with many sightings and times when nothing occurs also tell us information about how and when they are moving through the area. We learn by staying aware of current and historical sightings. I feel like the most responsible approach is to remain open to all possibilities, physical and other, because no one knows and that's just how we approach our hikes and research. 

KillDozer: Is "the curse of Bigfoot" as mentioned in the film Willow Creek a reality? If so could you explain? Are Bigfoot hunters part of a community? Do you compare evidence and work together?


Jami: Both my wife and I openly share whatever we understand and do work with other groups because that's how learning should begin. As far as a curse, I'm open to the idea. We've learned that the native tribes in Pennsylvania all have spiritual relations to large hairy human-like peoples. Mesingw was the name for bigfoot by the indigenous first people the Lenni Lanape tribe who inhabited the area of Shenango. So as you can tell, we work with the native people to give us insight into what they believe Bigfoot to be. As it turns out, it was known as keeper of the forest. Pennsylvania and Ohio have some of the best partnerships in Bigfoot research on the east coast. 

KillDozer: What tools do you use in your investigations? 


Jami: We use all the normal as expected equipment, thermals, recorders and call systems, but we find the best thing you can bring with you is an open mind and continuity of character. Think on the lines of Jane Goodall, she made contact with chimps and apes not with equipment, but rather her willingness to learn and gentle presence. Always have on your mind,"Are you someone they would want to know or be curious of" which works as Jane Goodall can attest. 

KillDozer: How does your family feel about your interest in Bigfoot? 

Jami: Our family believes us as we, my wife and I, are honest people who have nothing to gain from making up a story that even we don't always understand. The more we research, the more questions we have. It's not something you can explain without it sounding like complete madness. 

KillDozer: What do you believe keeps Bigfoot from being captured and exploited? 


Jami: They reveal themselves to those they know and become familiar with over time. They know their home very well and learn how to remain elusive. 

KillDozer: If anyone in the community of Bigfoot "hunters" would like to follow you on your quest for answers where should they go? Website? Instagram? 

Jami: We're on Instagram at jami_jenny  #pennohiobigfootfieldevidence and our Facebook group is Bigfoot Field Evidence Evaluation Team F.E.E.T. 

KillDozer: Do you believe Bigfoot is a gentle creature? If not why?

Jami: I'm not sure if I know this answer or how to correctly respond as I think no one truly knows. I sense they are like humans in that they have personality and can be both nice or aggressive, all animals have that similarity. 

KillDozer: How do you feel about how Bigfoot has been portrayed in pop culture? 


Jami: I think Bigfoot has been accurately portrayed as it reflects its nature from what we gather, through encounters. 

KillDozer: Is this a scientific exploration or an obsession? Is there a difference?


Jami: For my wife and I it's about finding answers to something very personal as it relates to my father. Science, I feel has some catching up to do and if Bigfoot is to be taken seriously, it will be a marriage between science and our cultural awareness that we are still learning and Bigfoot is something of a reality and the myth was created to keep us from truth which might be scary to some. 

KillDozer: Here are some fun quick questions - What do you feel is the best Bigfoot movie ever made? 

Jami: Letters from the Bigman, the Bigfoot movie (filmed in Pennsylvania).

KillDozer: If you had a pet Bigfoot what would you name it? 

Jami: Aurthur, for reasons I'll explain but science might not believe, YET😉

KillDozer: Would the discovery of Bigfoot change the world? 

Jami: Absolutely turn it upside down, in that we would finally realize our connectedness. Our DNA might show a closer relationship than we previously thought. 

KillDozer: Who would win in a fight, The Abominable Snow Man or Bigfoot?


Jami: Bigfoot would be more difficult to track, snow impedes ability to hide.

-KillDozer