Updated February 3rd, 2014: Bigfootology’s position on the Dyer saga.
Monday, January 6th, 2014
An update on the Dyer saga.
February 3, 2014
Robert Lindsay reported:
“Authorities appear on scene in AM. At sun-up, the authorities came because they had been called by Rick. The Texas State Police arrived but they had no idea of what to do. There is photo of this scene shot in the early AM showing Hank dead on the ground surrounding by some people who look like authorities, some wearing cowboy hats. They called the Texas Game Commission. The Game Commission came and took some samples for their own use. Rick wanted to take the body to a university. After a couple of days, he was granted that right. Rick took the body to the university and a federal government employee, a female, wearing jeans came out, looked at Hank and shook Rick’s hand.”
This is something that I can actually double-check because of Bigfootology’s association with the great scientists, and top wildlife cops in the United States, at the U.S. Wildlife Forensic Lab. When Bryan Sykes and I met with Ken Goddard and his team back in March of 2013 I asked Ken about the Dyer situation and he said he did not know who Dyer is and he would have heard of it since he knows the Texas Game personnel. When Robert Lindsay posted the above paragraph I sent an email to Ken to see if anything had changed and it indeed has not. Ken has not heard anything and in a situation like this he would have being the top cop for wildlife in America.
I will let you draw your own conclusion as people are going to choose to believe what they want regardless of facts. There is also something else brewing and when it comes to a conclusion I will let everyone know about that as well.
Rhettman A. Mullis, Jr., MS, PhD-ABD, CAF, MHP
Bigfootology
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Bigfootology’s position on the Dyer saga.
Bigfootology, as has been voiced many times in the past, does not care WHO gets credit for the final discovery of Bigfoot and we have encouraged the formation of other Bigfoot investigation teams, and has supported, encouraged, and trained individuals to do proper investigations and treatment of evidence. What we care about is that the discovery occurs in a manner that is above reproach, in a manner that will not cause there to be more questions than answers, or the question and doubt of integrity and professionalism becoming the focal point of a “discovery” instead of the focal point being the actual discovery (evidence). Anything other than the utmost of integrity and professionalism will cast doubt on the discovery and further impugn the field of researching the Bigfoot phenomenon. We have attempted to elevate this field to a professional level and what is currently occurring with some people in the Bigfoot community is countering that attempt by diminishing the integrity of so many that choose to do the right thing and put forth a best effort within the association of the name of Bigfoot, or by any other name.
I remember receiving an email from my best friend, Terry, with an article and photo of a Bigfoot in the freezer in 2008 and it took me a couple of seconds to look at the photo and email him back telling him it was a fake because it had an ape-like nose, not a hooded nose which is indicative of a Bigfoot. This was a common mistake with hoaxers and frauds because they would claim an ape-like nose when they are in fact human-like noses (hooded).
At Bigfootology we have many team members, most of which are scientists and field-experts, and our professional obligation is to remain objective as all times. We receive thousands of reports, questions, and inquiries every year and regardless of who the report comes from and/or about, we perform the due-diligence required to look at each report in a fair and reasonable manner. It was within two to three weeks that two of us on the team were informed by different “insiders” that Rick Dyer killed a Bigfoot and this was before it went public. Over the years we have squashed rumors and hoaxes as they come up and considering the person involved we were very careful to walk carefully with this situation. Sally Ramey and I were both contacted by two different people and we continued to work our sources to discover if there was a red-flag that indicates that this is another Dyer hoax. This is actually quite normal for us, as this happens all of the time and we are constantly working with people and groups quietly until we have something substantial to report and have the permission to do so.
Not long after the kill story went public and, again, Sally and I continued to be quiet and work with our separate sources and the problem that we had is the information we were receiving was collaborated and verified. Whereas we are usually easily able to determine a hoax and for a few months nothing was coming up as a red-flag with the exception that it was Rick Dyer, but to remain fair and professional objectivity we remained, publicly, neutral and continued to investigate the situation and I communicated this neutral “wait and see” stance publicly. I did so when I would appear on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory monthly to do a Bigfoot news update, when George would ask me about the Dyer situation, which those questions from George started in November of 2012. This continued on into the spring of 2013 and Bigfootology continued to maintain its “wait and see” stance and still does. If you go back through and listen to all of my reports with Coast to Coast AM you will hear me say that we had not been able to find anything that could not be validated, so far, and that Rick Dyer has either killed a Bigfoot or he has perpetrated the greatest hoax ever – time would reveal the truth.
Late December, 2012, we learned that two other Team Bigfootology members, Jack Barnes and Maximus Decimus Meridius, were also working with Dyer to learn more and the four of us began corroborating our information to determine what was really happening. Still all of the information was corroborated and that is why we maintained our neutral, wait and see stance, and again, that is what we stated publicly.
It was in December that I began to ask about how to contact Dyer directly, and it was suggested by the other three that I attempt to do so, as I have a habit of going to the top and not wasting my time with gate-keepers. It took some time but I was finally given Dyer’s phone number and I tried a few times to contact him, leaving voicemails and messaging him on Facebook, while the other three continued to work through their sources. It was February and Bryan and I arranged to meet in San Francisco and we had already discussed the Dyer dead Bigfoot and the attempt to acquire a hair sample. It was a matter of interesting timing that I sent a message to Dyer on Facebook that I was going through Santa Rosa on my way to visit with Bryan in San Francisco and he finally responded to me while I was with Bryan in San Francisco, but then he went quiet when I informed him of our desire to meet up with him and acquire a sample. I also left voicemails stating that we would gladly hop in the Bigfootology-mobile and meet him, even in Las Vegas:
Conversation started March 1, 2013
3/1, 9:33pm
Professor-Rhettman A Mullis Jr.
Rick,
You do not know us, but I thought I would open a dialogue between us. Are you willing to talk with Bigfootology representatives? Your Facebook page says you live in Santa Rosa and I will be driving through there next weekend on my way to San Francisco, but I thought you were actually in Las Vegas. If you are in Santa Rosa, it would be interesting to meet you if you have the time.
We are curious to know more about your situation and appreciate your willingness to talk with us.
Thank you,
Rhettman A. Mullis, Jr. Bigfootology
March 10, 2013
3/10, 10:36pm
Rick Dyer
I HAVE A HOUSE IN SR BUT WE ARE WAITING TILL SCHOOL ENDS TO MOVE UP THERE….FROM VEGAS
3/10, 10:49pm
Professor-Rhettman A Mullis Jr.
Rick, are you willing to let Dr. Sykes and myself to come and inspect the body and let him take a DNA sample back to England?
3/10, 10:55pm
Professor-Rhettman A Mullis Jr.
Dr. Sykes and I are in San Francisco until Tuesday and I am fairly confident that we can drive to where you are to provide a credible third-party validation of the body. Sykes and I discussed your situation tonight.
If you want to call me ***-***-**** cell or email me at rhettman@bigfootology.com
All four of us continued to work behind the scenes, as we do with most projects until we have something substantial to report, then we discuss matters publicly. Bryan and I drove up the coast and to my house and we met with other Bigfooters (Steve Streufert, Maxwell David) and with several Team Bigfootology team members (Greg Roberts, Tom Graham, Ray Crowe, Ronnie Roseman, Pearl Prihoda, Sam Cagey, Bart Cutino, Justin Smeja, Lori Simmons, we tried to meet with others but time did not permit it). While Bryan and I visited with Greg Roberts (Bigfootology West Coast Vice-President) and Tom Graham (State of Jefferson Sasquatch Research) in Medford, Oregon, we were informed of the U.S. Wildlife Forensic Lab and I got on the phone and contacted Ken Goddard and we were invited into the facility for a full tour (see the Facebook Bigfootology page for the photos), and in the meeting at the beginning I discussed the Dyer kill story with Ken and that is when Ken informed us that Bigfoot is not a protected species and the only place it is illegal to kill one is in Skamania County, Washington, which is commercial ploy more than it is an actual serious law. It has just been brought to my attention that Whatcom County, Washington, also has a no-kill ordinance for Bigfoot. Ken Goddard is the top forensic cop in the United States and he knows the wildlife people in Texas and said that he would have heard something and in fact he knew nothing about this “Dyer Bigfoot kill.”
Ken’s words and Dyer’s avoidance of us is what started turning the tide of doubt with us as to the validity of his claim. Still we walked carefully and continued to work behind the scenes because what we were continuing to learn and was corroborated between the four of us. Nothing that went public was a surprise to us as we knew days, weeks, months in advance that the new information was coming, including the documentary with Minnow Films and what was in it. As I spoke in a post on Facebook, we continued to do a full-court press on acquiring a sample and trying to find a problem with the story, at this point the only problems were not factual problems, but the avoidance of acquiring a sample, time delays, and of course, his prior history. But, again, to remain fair and objective we continued our efforts. I even approached Minnow Films and had no reply, then I asked Bryan to talk with Minnow Films and he stated that he did not know them and doubted he would have any positive effect on getting them to get Dyer to submit a sample and letting us inspect the body.
Bryan was in the United States for quite some time this year, mostly at my house on Whidbey Island, before we moved back to Bellevue. He and I spent a lot of time together and went a lot of places. I was with Bryan in the North Cascades when three of us had an experience that caused Bryan to lose his objectivity for a while and went from skeptic to a believer. Again, do not ask me to reveal what happened and the outcome of that investigation as I promised not to talk about is so Bryan can reveal it in his book coming out in the spring of 2014. We never went to WSU in Pullman, Washington, which is a six-hour drive from my house. I know people at WSU and they know my involvement with the Bigfoot field and they have heard and seen nothing to make them think that the greatest discovery for the last couple of hundred years is laying on a slab in one of the rooms there. Does that mean that the body was not actually there? Not really, as anything is possible.
Still, we made ourselves available to acquire a sample and inspect the body. The others continued their attempts and I was in consistent conversations with the other three team members still working with their sources. Jack Barnes’ source was Dyer, himself. The last attempt by myself to directly communicate with Dyer was:
June 13, 2013
6/13, 12:29am
Professor-Rhettman A Mullis Jr.
Rick, we would still like a sample for this DNA project. What is the likelihood of obtaining a hair sample from you from Hank?
Seen Jun 14
Jack Barnes continued to work directly with Dyer, as most of you know, as he helped fund parts of what Dyer did and put the Find Bigfoot on Facebook (FB/FB) on the line if it proved that Dyer was a liar. The documentary was a disappointment and Jack Barnes shut down FB/FB but continued to try and accomplish some kind of good outcome. I know Jack continued to try and acquire a sample for us through the late summer and early fall of 2013 and even offered Dyer night-vision equipment, which he wanted, to pay for the sample. Jack was not successful as he said that Dyer was an unpredictable, unstable, loose-cannon type.
Most of this is not new information. Anyone who monitors Bigfootology’s Facebook page or listens to my updates during the news-segment of Coast to Coast AM with George Noory over the last year and a half has already heard much of this information. To this day our official position as an organization is that we neither claim that this Dyer kill situation is a hoax or is real, we have much information that is confirmed and the only doubt we have is Dyer’s history, his erratic behavior, and his evasion of all attempts to have the top geneticist in the world validate his claim. The offer still stands. The last time George Noory asked me about the Dyer situation I said the same and stated that we leaned, after over a year of working with this situation, 60/40 on this being a hoax, but because we are scientists we must remain objective and keep the door open for validation. With that I invite Dyer to let us inspect the body and acquire a sample, still. I live in Washington State and we have Bigfootology representatives all across the United States that can also inspect the body and acquire a sample. A phone call would still probably get Bryan and me on the road to provide the credible third-party evaluation he needs, and we are real people, known in the Bigfoot community, with an international audience, not an unidentified “team of authorities” yet unnamed.
I contacted George Noory to inform him of what Rick Dyer is doing and George sent me an email that he received from Andrew Clacy. Andrew stated that Dyer wants to be on a Coast to Coast AM broadcast and promised, “If you allow Rick on your show he will give you the exclusive in what exactly happened in 2008 & the 2012 shooting.” Andrew stated that doctors are welcomed to view the body for a fee, and that it is not fair to have Justin Smeja on a show and not have Rick Dyer on the show as well, accusing Justin of hoaxing his kill story. In fairness to Justin Smeja, he did state that there was a probability of his sample testing as bear because of where it was found, the time difference between when it was shot and when a recover attempt was performed, and we did everything possible to test his boots with no success.
I have been inundated with questions about all of this and I have posted some responses:
Talk about beating a dead horse. This gets so tiresome. Bryan Sykes and I spent hours interviewing Justin Smeja and Bart Cutino, and it was clear to both of us that they were not fabricating anything. They also made it very clear the circumstance behind the obtainment of the “steak” and that they thought it was likely to be bear because of the lapsed time of recovery, the primary use and prevalence of bear in the area, but they still held a hope that they did find a piece of what remained of a Bigfoot, but they were realistic saying that it may be bear. That is why Bryan and I attempted to test the boots. Bryan has access to the cutting edge technology, that is not even public-domain used yet, because of our association with the U.S. Wildlife Forensic Lab and Bryan was unable to extract blood from the boot. They have some amazing equipment and techniques there and some amazing people, if any organization could find and extract blood from those boots, it is that lab. Bart and Justin were also honest about the probability of blood still being on the boot after Justin continued to use them. The emotional reaction from Justin upon hearing the news was honest and reasonable considering, even though he was being realistic, he still hoped that he had the proof to substantiate his story. Of course there is going to be disappointment as Justin is not a sociopath and does show an array of emotion. So leave Justin out of this nonsense and remain focused on Dyer who refused to allow us to test “Hank” which is typical of someone with something to hide. Justin had nothing to hide and gave us what he had to test. The fact that it came up as bear is no different from others who “think” they have a Bigfoot hair but learn that it is cow, dog, horse, or some other known animal. It does not make their investigations and stories hoaxes, does it? It just means that they did not find a Bigfoot hair.
Regarding a rumor that Dr. Bryan Sykes has viewed and tested the body at WSU and that is what changed him from a skeptic to a believer:
We never went to WSU and easily could have if we had been contacted to do so as it is only a 6 hour drive. Bryan spent a lot of time this last year at my home on Whidbey Island and we never went to eastern Washington. We have not tested anything from Dyer, or Hank, because he refused to engage us after we offered to come and meet with him to do so.
Contrast this with Justin Smeja. He was more than happy to meet up with Bryan and I and did so because he truly believed that he had the evidence, he put himself on the line regardless of the outcome. Justin’s mistake is that he should have taken something off of the body (e.g., hair, finger, and so on) instead of hoping to acquire it later. A hoaxer would have avoided this whole situation, just like Dyer has. As unpopular to some that this may be, this tells me that Justin Smeja has credibility where Dyer has none.
It seems strange that Andrew would attempt to guilt George Noory into having him on a show when Andrew tells George, “As far as a media platform, we do not need help because we have a real dead Bigfoot.” Then why try to put forth a manipulating argument as to why George should put you on the show?
A lot does not make sense. Why would the discovery of the century, worth potentially wealth and fame, be carried around the countryside in a trailer? Why would a person ignore the request of the world’s leading geneticist to validate the discovery?
Regardless, as an organization and Dr. Bryan Sykes agent in the United States, Bigfootology attempted to do what we can, due diligence, to verify this situation and offered to help document this discovery by obtaining a hair sample for Dr. Bryan Sykes to analyze. Sally Ramey was working with her contact, Maximus Decimus Meridius worked with his contact, I contacted Dyer directly by phone and through his personal Facebook account, and Jack Barnes made his attempts to acquire a sample even through by trying to trade night-vision equipment with Dyer, as Jack had been working with Dyer throughout this whole time, even funding people to go to view the body (e.g., Musky Allen). Dyer refused to have the analysis done.
As it is incumbent upon a professional scientific organization to take an objective position until viable evidence is put forth to support, or not support, any position. So, we will, as usual, wait and see what happens.
Time will tell whether this is truly real, or if it is just another Rick Dyer hoax.
Rhettman A. Mullis, Jr., MS, PhD-ABD, CAF, MHP
Bigfootology
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