Bigfoot Hunter Claudia Ackley Dead at 51
A cryptid hunter best known for suing the California park service over an alleged bigfoot sighting was found dead at her home in Tennessee yesterday. She was 51 years old. Ed Brown, the partner of well-known sasquatch enthusiast Claudia Ackley, confirmed that Ackley died, seemingly from a heart attack, according to The Sun. Ackley had released a number of photos and videos to social media, claiming that she had seen a bigfoot and dedicated to proving that the creature exists.
Brown was reportedly out of town on business, and became concerned when he was unable to reach his partner. He called a friend to check on her, and the friend saw her in bed, unresponsive. After calling the police for a wellness check, Ackley was declared dead.
"It could be caused by hypertension or an issue with her medication. but there is nothing to suggest anything untoward or anything related to any conspiracy theory," Brown told the Sun. "It is so important to me that is made clear. I want to protect her legacy, she was a great person with a heart the size of Texas and she wanted to help everybody."
In 2017, Ackley and her family were on a trail near Lake Arrowhead, California, when she and one of her daughters both claimed to have seen a sasquatch watching them from behind a tree. They had video evidence, but it was unclear what, if anything, was actually in the trees at the location she indicated. After she reached out to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, they examined the footage and said t was likely a bear that her family had seen. Ackley sued the Department, hoping to force them to acknowledge bigfoots as a legitimate species. She said that it would protect people by forcing the government to take sightings more seriously. The case was dismissed on a technicality, and while Ackley said she planned to re-draft the suit and try again, there is no indication she actually did so.
That encounter was at least her second, as Ackley had previously said she had a life-changing encounter with a small (roughly five feet tall) bigfoot in 2014.
"I realized at that point, looking at the creature, that there's so much of life that we don't know. Life is so beautiful, and I'm wasting my years," she told the New York Post. "I lost 125 pounds and decided to get a divorce . . . It motivated me to chase my dreams and live my life."
Ackley is survived by her two daughters. Our condolences go out to her family and friends.
