Viewers are divided on what exactly the figure in this photograph is carrying. (Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization) — Viewers are divided on what exactly the figure in this photograph is carrying. *(Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization)*

Updated 7/15/21

A person referred to only as Eddie V. recently sent a photograph to the Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization (RMSO), which the group posted to their blog under the title “Michigan Sasquatch Carrying Infant Bigfoot Across Cass River” on July 7th.

In the photo, a figure can be seen carrying an unidentified object across a body of water.

According to the email accompanying the photograph,

My cousin was kayaking on the Cass River here in Michigan, when he took this picture. Not sure what it is, but I have sent it to a few people to see what they say. Some say it's Bigfoot carrying a baby Bigfoot, others say it's Bigfoot carrying a deer.

The photograph is part of a video which was released by the RMSO on July 12th.

The full image posted to RMSO’s blog. (Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization) — The full image posted to RMSO’s blog. *(Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization)*

"These people say they have a video, and every time they try to send it, it sends this photo. So, I’m going to work with them and see if we can get the actual video of the creature," investigator Kelly Shaw said during a video posted to the RMSO's YouTube Channel on July 8th. "I don’t know how long it is. I have not heard back from them since last night, after they answered a couple of questions about it."

Four days later, he was able to post the video to the RMSO channel.

Shaw said that the creature in the photo "looks like it’s holding an infant" and described it as "bigfoot-like," although, he added, "I’m not going to say it’s Bigfoot."

"Near the water, at the crotch section, if you will, of the bigfoot is the infant’s foot. The infant does not look like a newborn baby; it’s fairly large, perhaps maybe half as tall as its mother or father that’s carrying it across the river," said Shaw of the object being carried.

An enlarged image of the figure. At least one viewer argued that the figure in the photo is a man wearing waders and carrying a dog—possibly a German Shepherd—across the river. In that hypothesis, the dog’s face is in front of the man’s, giving him a strange appearance.

One commenter on the RMSO’s blog post featuring the photo said they thought the figure “looks like a guy in a costume,” although other commenters expressed doubt about that hypothesis.

"This looks legit to me, [I] don’t think it’s faked, and if [it were] a costume, [there's] a good chance it would fill up with water and possibly drown the hoaxer if it [were] one," commented a viewer of the RMSO's video on YouTube.

Shaw disagreed with those who thought the figure might be a person in a costume.

"There are some shadows on the leg of the creature that people think is a costume bunching up...Its arm is sticking out, creating a shadow on its upper and lower thigh, and you can see that the hand is up there comforting the infant that’s on its left shoulder,” he said.

The investigator also noted that the figure appeared to be creating a wake in the water.

“Something else that stood out to me is the creature is making a wake. That wake in the river around it, it’s creating,” he said. “So, I don’t think it’s an inanimate object.”

Shaw added that the image "Looks pretty good."

"I’m not saying it’s Bigfoot, but a lot of what’s going on in this says to me it’s something moving through the river, pushing a wake, and it appears to be carrying an infant. The infant’s head is behind the mother or father. It must be lying on the left shoulder and kind of in the back, but you can see the torso, leg, and foot of the baby," he explained. "Just incredible."

Shaw’s opinion remained largely unchanged after viewing the video.

“I’m not saying this is Bigfoot, and I’m not saying it isn’t…it isn’t the greatest footage,” he said. “You be the judge on what you think it is. I don’t know what it is.”

The Cass River runs 61.5 miles through the Thumb region of Michigan, so the precise location of the sighting cannot be pinpointed without more information.

Notably, Michigan has the eighth most reported Bigfoot sightings in the U.S., according to data from The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO). Of the counties through which the Cass River passes, Sanilac County has the most reported sightings with two; one in August of 1987 and another in August of 2020.

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