Do you believe in Bigfoot? There is a large community of Minnesotans who do and who think you should, too. Hundreds will gather October 7th, 2023 for the fourth annual Minnesota Bigfoot Conference in Grand Rapids to swap stories of sightings and hear from researchers in the field. MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer talked with Abe Del Rio, the founder of the Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team, which heads up the conference.

This clip is a segment piece from Minnesota Now

Audio transcript
INTERVIEWER: All right, question for you. Are you ready? Do you believe in Bigfoot? I can hear you laughing right now.

There is a large community of Minnesotans who do and think you should too. In fact, this weekend, hundreds will gather at the Fourth Annual Minnesota Bigfoot Conference in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to swap stories of sightings and hear from experts and researchers in the field. Joining us right now is the founder of the Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team which heads up the conference, Abe Del Rio. Abe, welcome to the program.

ABE DEL RIO: Thank you for having me on. Thank you very much.

INTERVIEWER: All right, Abe. What sparked your passion for Bigfoot?

ABE DEL RIO: Well, it was the gorillas at Como Zoo back in the '80s. And I was just so awestruck with them as a little toddler that they really lit a fire that, unbeknownst to me, took over and just kind of ran off before I got a chance to catch up with it. That's where it all snowballed from there, just as a kid.

And then hearing about the occasional Bigfoot sighting coming across the radio, the news, and the newspapers, looking at books in the school library, public library, hearing about these documentaries. And then even Disney had a film called Bigfoot as well. So yeah, it was something that kind of always had an interest, but I never knew that it would have evolved to where it's at today for me.

INTERVIEWER: Did you have a Bigfoot encounter somewhere in your life?

ABE DEL RIO: I did. Ah-- it was in 2001 when I got chased by a bigfoot. I did not see it. I have not seen a bigfoot, but my two ex-team members that were with me at that time-- one of them I known from high school. He had a higher point of view and he got to see the creature making its way from tree to tree, getting really, really close to me and the other guy. And so that is the-- well, the first one I've had out of multiple ones that I've had.

INTERVIEWER: OK, so hang on now. So your--

ABE DEL RIO: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: Your team members saw this creature. Was it a big--

ABE DEL RIO: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: Was it a big blob? I mean, how did they describe it?

ABE DEL RIO: Well, they said it was about seven, seven and a half feet tall and reddish brown in color. It was on two legs. It had arms. It had a very humanoid figure just like you and I.

And what was going on is that we were in Ohio at that time because Ohio had a lot of sightings and happenings going on. So we decided to go out there instead of Minnesota. And lo and behold, alas, we thought we were totally ready, but we were not.

We were walking away from the vehicle and we had to walk down an embankment. We got about 50 to maybe about 75 yards away from the vehicle, and he decided to stay at the vehicle-- just having a bad day. Me and another guy are walking out.

We hear a snap. I mean, this is a loud snap. It's like a limb or tree being broken or something like that. That stopped us dead in our tracks and then we hear the unforgettable bipedal footprints hitting the foliage, stepping on sticks and leaves. And it's just loud and heavy footsteps. And yeah, we were scared.

[LAUGHS]

We were scared. We were waiting for this thing. And you know, I stop-- we started running back towards the vehicle. And I stopped and I flipped open my Polaroid camera.

I'm thinking, hey, this could be the picture of a lifetime. But then again, it's a Polaroid camera-- one of those ones that come out instantly and you got to shake it so it dries off and you get the image. It's not going to do anything as far as detail-wise.

And as soon as I stopped-- the other team member, having a higher point of view at the vehicle, says, Abe, what are you doing? The thing is right behind you-- get going. When I looked back at him, his eyes were as wide as saucers.

Now mind you, I've known this guy since high school. And plus, hearing this thing-- whatever it is-- taking two steps-- bipedal footprints getting louder tells me it's getting closer. So I flip the camera and I started running back to the vehicle-- pretty much caught up with the other guy.

And I don't know if we opened the door or if we hopped through the window Dukes of Hazzard styles. But we get in there. I'm shooken up, he's shooken up. I'm giving him 20 questions.

I'm like, hey, what was it? What did it look like? Where did it go? He goes, yeah, yeah, it was a bigfoot, about reddish brown in coloration and 7, 7 and 1/2 feet tall.

And like, where is it? Where did it go? Because he took his eyes off of it getting inside of the vehicle, having the car started for us when we get there. He didn't know where it went.

And so the windows are down it's eerily quiet as heck. I mean, you could hear a pin drop in the forest if you were really, really listening. It was just so eerily quiet-- which also freaked us out.

INTERVIEWER: So that is--

ABE DEL RIO: And so we got out of there.

INTERVIEWER: That is a heck of a story. No photos taken because you guys, as you say, ran. So you know--

ABE DEL RIO: Yeah, we ran.

INTERVIEWER: OK. You can hear listeners right now saying, oh Abe, come on. Really? I mean, what do you say to "satch--" "satchsquatch--" that's hard to say-- sasquatch skeptics?

ABE DEL RIO: Well you know, I can say that they're real until I'm blue in the face. But nobody is going to have anything until-- or believe us until they get out of their comfort zone. Get out from-- get off their couches, get off their La-Z-Boys, get out from the work offices, their cubicles, and step out into the woods where there is wild things left to be discovered. And that's where we invite these people, these professors, these primatologists, out in the field researchers that give us a little bit of vindication. Because these are the ones that are looking at it through under a microscope, through evidence collection and stuff like that.

INTERVIEWER: Now the conference this weekend is up in Grand Rapids.

ABE DEL RIO: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: What are you going to be doing up there?

ABE DEL RIO: It is, yes. It's going to be at the Timberlake Lodge and Hotel in Grand Rapids. The day of the conference is October 7th. We are going to open up with a town hall meeting about 9:00 AM. Basically what that allows is a platform for people who have also had sightings or encounters, step forward and share that with us. We want to be that platform, that outlet, where people can trust us with what they've seen and not be ridiculed--

[CHUCKLES]

And feel safe and have a safe environment in doing so. That will go on for about two hours, 9:00 to 11:00. Then we are going to open up with the conference itself, do introductions, and start bringing on speakers.

INTERVIEWER: Do you suspect that you might see some video or photos at this conference? Are you hoping that someone's got some pretty decent pictures?

ABE DEL RIO: Things of that nature have been brought forth from the past three conferences, so you never know what's going to emerge. All that I say is, you do want to come-- if you are a skeptic and you want to look into this, you have nothing to lose by coming to the Minnesota Bigfoot Conference. Be open-minded. Don't be so close-minded. Anything is possible.

INTERVIEWER: And of--

ABE DEL RIO: So I mean, you never know what's going to emerge.

INTERVIEWER: And you're in Grand Rapids and you're in the middle of the woods, pretty much. And I would suppose that that would be a fairly decent place possibly if you wanted to go out in the woods and do some searching.

ABE DEL RIO: Well, I mean, northern Minnesota is a great place. There's a lot of ground that has not been touched by humans yet. So yeah, there's still a lot of wilderness out in northern Minnesota.

INTERVIEWER: Well, I wish you well here, Abe. I hope you have a good conference. Thanks for the stories.

ABE DEL RIO: Thank you guys. Bye bye.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, take care. Abe Del Rio has been with us-- the founder of the Minnesota Bigfoot Research Team. You can still get tickets to the conference this weekend in Grand Rapids.

[FOLKSY MUSIC]

(SINGING) If you see my bigfoot, you better send him home. If you see my bigfoot, you better send him home.