Georgia Bigfoot Body Hoax - August 2008

[hopeful]

From left, Matthew Whitton, Tom Biscardi and Rick Dyer
next to the frozen creature.



Georgia bigfoot body hoax
From squatchopedia.com - All things bigfoot and sasquatch

In August 2008 the world’s attention was drawn to the claims of two Georgia (USA) men, Matthew Whitten and Rick Dyer, who claimed to have found the corpse of a large male bigfoot. The body was supposedly preserved in a chest-style freezer. Although the men had been making outrageous and self-promoting claims through a series of YouTube videos, they received relatively little attention, even among those involved with investigating the sasquatch phenomenon, until they invited controversial personality Tom Biscardi to view the body.

While various time lines have been proposed regarding related events, the involvement of questionable and self-serving sources makes it difficult, if not impossible, to unequivocally ascertain exactly what happened, much less where and when.

The following can be stated with some confidence:

Late in the evening on Thursday, 31 July 2008, Tom Biscardi called and left a message for anthropologist Kathy Strain to request assistance in contacting someone to conduct DNA analyses on tissue samples (ostensibly obtained from the Georgia bigfoot body).

On Friday, 1 August 2008, University of Minnesota senior scientist Curt Nelson was contacted by Strain; he agreed to examine the samples.

On Tuesday, 12 August 2008, a press release was distributed stating that DNA evidence and photo evidence was to be presented Friday, August 15, 2008 at Palo Alto, California. A variety of “vital statistics” pertaining to the bigfoot body were included with the press release. That same day, a photo showing the supposed body appeared on Biscardi’s web site, Searching for Bigfoot. Independent individuals quickly identified it as a match for a commercially available bigfoot costume.

On Wednesday, 13 August 2008, Biscardi appeared on the Fox News channel to announce the California press conference to be held on Friday. He invited one of the interviewers, Megan Kelly, to personally examine the body the following week.

On Friday, 15 August 2008, Biscardi, Dyer and Whitten faced the media. Biscardi attempted to promote the validity of the claims by emphasizing Whitten’s position as a police officer in Clayton County, Georgia. Curt Nelson’s DNA results identified the submitted tissue samples as human and opossum (Didelphis virginiana); Biscardi dismissed the results as the product of contamination. Additional photos presented to the press did not serve to convince the mostly skeptical audience. Biscardi confidently insisted the body was real, stating that he had seen, smelled, touched, and prodded the corpse.

By Tuesday, 19 August 2008, it was obvious to even the most hopeful of Biscardi’s supporters that there was no bigfoot body. The costume supplemented with animal parts was uncovered and Biscardi claimed that the Georgians tricked him. Curiously, the media did not hold Biscardi accountable for his previous assertions.

Wednesday, 20 August 2008: News that 28-year-old officer Matt Whitten was fired for his role in the hoax is released.

Retrieved from "http://squatchopedia.com/index.php/Georgia_bigfoot_body_hoax"

The above information was retrieved from squatchopedia.com.

[hopeful]

www.news-daily.com/Main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=25389

Published: Friday, October 10, 2008
'Bigfoot' cop wants job back

By Daniel Silliman

[e-mail]

The Clayton County police officer, who perpetuated a Bigfoot hoax, is fighting his firing.

Matthew Whitton has filed an appeal of his termination, asking to be reinstated to his job as a uniformed patrolman. Whitton, 28, was fired in August, after he attracted international media attention with claims he had the body of a dead Bigfoot.

Whitton and Rick Dyer, who once was a corrections officer, claimed they had the corpse of a legendary North American man-ape and had it frozen in a secret, safe location. They described the alleged animal in detail, including the color of its hair, its sexual organ and how "man-like" the animal would look, if it were shaved.

Teaming up with Tom Biscardi, a California man with a history of Bigfoot hoaxes, Whitton and Dyer held a press conference to "reveal the evidence." The "evidence" amounted to blurry and unconvincing pictures, and an e-mail reporting DNA test results as "human," "opossum" and "unidentified."

A few days later, everyone involved admitted the claims that captured media attention from CNN to The Sydney Morning Herald, from the Clayton News Daily to the New York Times, were false. The find was apparently a rubber suit stuffed with animal entrails.

When news of the claims first broke, Clayton County Police Chief Jeff Turner said Whitton's activities were personal as long as he did it on his own time, didn't do anything illegal, and didn't involve the police department. After the hoax was admitted, Turner said Whitton had lied on national television and lost his credibility.

Court cases in which Whitton was going to be a key witness, including an armed robbery that left a woman shot in the head and comatose, will probably be affected, legal observers say. Some charges could be dropped and some cases could be dismissed, observers speculate, because of the possible issue of Whitton's credibility.

Friends of Whitton in the department, have privately called the incident a personal and professional embarrassment, even though the fired officer said the whole thing was just a joke. To date, he seems to still think it was a joke.

Dyer responded to Whitton's firing in a conversation with the Clayton News Daily by attacking Turner's personal integrity, and called Whitton a hero, because the officer was shot in the line of duty a few weeks before claiming to have found a Bigfoot body.

Whitton said he always kept his job separate from his hoax hobby, at one point using a different first name and telling reporters at the big press conference that "my job has nothing to do with this." Most media outlets mentioned Whitton's work, however, as a reason his claims could be credible.

The appeal, filed by attorney Robert F. Webb, adds another argument against Whitton's firing, saying Whitton was "suffering from the physical and mental stress" from the shooting.

Webb is expected to also argue that the firing was done improperly.

A civil service board hearing has not yet been scheduled, according to the county's personnel department.

[hopeful]

www.news-daily.com/Main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=25389

Clayton News Daily-Online Reader Comments

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Article comment by: pamela

he should stay fired, a joke? how stupid, and sick, is that, they all hurt all the ( REAL HONEST ) bigfoot researchers, with their lies, if he still thinks its a joke, then he truly is a sick, dishonest stupid person, and we the people, do not need someone like him as a police officer, saying he is helping people, with is dishonesty, and lies, no one will ever believe him.

Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Article comment by: Big Ape

I'm first! I just wanted to say, my rubber monkey suit is missing and I want it back.

Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008
Article comment by: Wm H Bolt

Do not re-enstate this liar. If he would lie about possesing the body of a big foot, he is not above lieing agaist a defentant in a court of law. This man can not be trusted with protected the rights of the public.

Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008
Article comment by: john

make sure the police chief gets ALL the facts. whitton, lied, and mis-led a lot of people and he knew it. just check out his web site after the HOAX was revealed.

Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008
Article comment by: Leesa Bloom

Good-bye Matthew. I appreciate that you took a bullet in the line of duty. Yes, indeed, that was heroic. But, what you did to the American public was so out-of-line that I really question your integrity. How is it that you could continue your deceit for so long? You had your fifteen minutes of fame and look what you did with it? You wasted so many people's time and money,not to mention the hearts that you broke across the country. I have a huge issue paying a police officer with no integrity to carry a gun around MY neighborhood. Sorry. I'm sure there is another job for you somewhere. If your department hired you back, what would that say about them?