Reed City , MI 1993

"It had a dog-like apperance "

The area around Reed City, Michigan, seems to be a hotbed of activity with regard to sightings of the dogman. The latest report comes over a decade after it occurred, but the witness seems quite credible and in unshakeable in her story. Her name is Courtney, and her encounter took place during the winter of 1993-94.

Courtney was a teenager at the time, and was sneaking cigarettes behind her parents' home, near Todd Lake northeast of Reed City. The sun was setting on a clear, cold winter day. Courtney was facing a large abandoned barn on the property next door. Through a hole broken in the siding, she saw what she thought was "a piece of old farm machinery," just inside the building.

The barn near Todd Lake where Courtney saw a dogman-like creature in 1993. The red circle indicates where the creature was standing.

She watched for a few moments, but the object didn't move. Then a deer or some other large animal snapped a branch in the woods nearby. Courtney's attention was diverted, and she turned her head to see what had caused the noise. In her peripheral vision, she noted that "the farm machinery moved too." When she looked back, the setting sun was silhouetting the object in the barn. She froze in place when she realized that she was looking at a tall animal. It turned its head back and looked straight at her. It was, in Courtney's words, "at least 6 feet tall if not more. It was dark colored. It had a dog like appearance; pointy nose and really big pointy ears."

Courtney dashed into her house to grab a flashlight. When she returned outside, she shined it toward the barn door but the animal was no longer there. She walked closer to the barn to look for tracks in the heavy snow. When she didn't see any, she realized the creature might still be inside, and ran back to the safety of the house. She never saw the creature again.

Courtney later talked to a friend who had seen something "the size of a buffalo but the shape of a dog" in the same barn, but at a different time. The girl had been hysterical for days after her encounter. Neither of these witnesses heard of "The Legend" song, or about the Michigan Dogman, until years later.

Status: Open

Sources: Two eyewitnesses