From the documentary " Missing: The Dennis Martin Case" Artwork by Greg Champy.

By now most people know about or at least have heard of, the Dennis Martin Case. If you don't know about this strange case I would recommend that you research it. The Martin case is one in which a young boy, Dennis Martin, went missing in the Smoky Mountains. There are many people who think there is a possibility that Martin was abducted by a Bigfoot.

While many know about the Martin case, there are probably a lot that don't know there was another attempted abduction, that took place in Tennessee, several years later, of a 4 year old boy. So, today I want to tell you what we know about that incident.

This story was reported by The San Antonio Star back on May 9th of 1976. This was just 7 years after the mysterious Dennis Martin disappearance. As you can see from the picture the headline reads "Mountain Monster tried to snatch my boy, says mom". I take it that is the mother and little boy in the picture on the right of the article. I'm assuming that is the father on the left. The text in the article is unreadable but I was able to find out more of the story. Here is what I was able to piece together from the article.

"Mountain men armed with rifles, shotguns, and C.B. radios are stalking the rugged hills of Tennessee in search of a creature that tried to grab a young boy, and local people in Lincoln, Shelby, and Tipton Counties reported similar sightings over the past three years of a creature described as a "hairy eight-feet monster that screams."

The Star visited the hills of the Appalachian Mountains where the boy's mother was. Mrs Jennie Robertson told how she snatched her four-year-old, Gary, from the monster's arm. "I'm just a country girl but I know what I saw," said Mrs. Robertson, 27, at her cabin home. "It was about 9 o'clock in the evening and Gary had walked out the back door after supper. I was standing just behind him, and I heard him cry out. I rushed out the door and I saw this huge figure coming around the corner of the house. It was seven or eight feet tall and seemed to be all covered in hair. It reached out its long hairy arm toward Gary and came within a few inches of him before I could grab him and pull him back inside."
"I called to my husband, but by the time he got out the back It was gone." Following the incident, Mrs Robertson's husband, Melvin, 34, drove into nearby Fayetteville and placed a notice in the Elk Valley Times, warning that the creature was around and could be dangerous. "I had seen it before, down by the big woods, but I didn't say anything because I thought people would think I was crazy." said Mr. Robertson."But now I'm afraid that if I keep silent someone will be hurt."

Robertson said the creature stood upright like a man, but was much bigger. "It sounds like someone with asthma." he added, "and once when we were down chopping wood, it screamed in the bushes."

The Robertson's closest neighbor, Houston Smith, said he also seen the mysterious monster to." He told The Star: "I've been seeing this thing around the woods here for three years, but I didn't want to say anything until, Melvin Robertson came out and said he'd seen it too." "It walks upright like kind of bent over. It's not a bear and It's certainly not a person." "A lot of this country's never even been explored, anything could live there, especially if it only comes out at night like this does."

Another resident, Mrs Sarah (last name undecipherable), told newsmen the monster had jumped on the root of her car two weeks earlier while it was standing at a nearby intersection. "It dented the roof and pulled off the aerial," she said. "As It ran away I thought I could see another little one running with it."

James Stevens of Shelby Forest in Shelby county, said he had been tracking the monster part-time for the past three years. Stevens said it once chased his truck down a gravel road at speeds up to 40 mph.

The Star accompanied one monster hunting team into the hills behind the tiny Lincoln County Village of  Flintville. The hunters pointed out unexplained trails and crushed undergrowth in areas they claimed neither people nor domestic animals had ( undecipherable). However, to ( undecipherable) the cave where local residents believe a family of the monsters lived. We know the caves are there between Flintville and the Elk River, said Steven Moore, 27 one of the leaders of  (undecipherable) Jennie Robertson and son Gary, 4, stand at the door of their home. Well, "We found tracks and droppings. We also heard something rustling and running in the bushes, Although we didn't see it. 'We think' the big storm last month might have dropped trees over the entrance and hid it. But we'll find It eventually '

Clairvoyant, Mrs Lorraine Warren traveled to the area after hearing reports of the monster. She told The Star she had made telepathic connection with the creature while exploring an area behind the Robertson's house. "I heard a rustling and felt it was close and watching me. Mrs Warren said "I sat down in the clearing and communicated telepathically." "I got the feeling the presents was not out to harm anyone, but it wanted continued compassion. It was not carnivorous. I'd hesitate to call it an animal, it had a lot of human tendencies. I felt a need for love and curiosity." Mrs Warren's telepathic impression was of a creature about seven feel tall weighing 900 pounds with a hairy light brown face and darker body covered with hair about a foot long. It had very muscular thighs like a weight lifter, and feet with three very long toes."she said."One toe seemed to be injured, as though perhaps bitten by a snake."


Now, that is about as good as I can decipher from the available text. You can go to The San Antonio Star archives and get it but you have to pay for it. I was able to search and gather pieces here and there to get the bulk of the story. The deciphering part was due to the words being grossly misspelled. Misspelled so bad that some words may have only contained one or two letters that were correct. It appears the original article was translated automatically by some kind of software and it would just add random letters to words it didn't understand. To help you better understand, here is a sample of the text I had to work with: "iM'tweeii Fliiitville aiul tht' Flk River. s.iid St,.."...translated: "between Flintville and the Elk River, said Steven.."  So you can see it took a while to work and figure it out but I think most will understand the report.

One thing that is reported about this attempted abduction, that is off, is that it was close to where Dennis Martin went missing. Looking at google maps you can see that Shelby, and Tipton Counties are on the far west of Tennessee and not around the Smoky Mountains.

It is still an interesting report, that for the most part, has been lost or forgotten by many. I also understand that many people only see and think of Bigfoot as being a shy, hidden creature, that would not harm anyone. But I think they are much like us humans, you have good ones and bad one. Plus there are numerous reports of Bigfoot abducting people and even some of them eating children. So, reports of this behavior should not just be dismissed.


Thanks
Tom

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.



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