Something is going on in the furthest reaches of our parks, recreation areas, and remote woodlands that park rangers, hikers, and hunters have encountered. Some of these people carry terrible memories of close calls and terrifying encounters with an entity that is not supposed to exist! In 2006 Cory Kelly and a friend went hunting in Beltrami Island State Forest. It was late autumn just before the first expected snowfall. The two men split up early in the chilly morning hoping to find game. They both agreed to meet up back at their campsite before dark.

Cory’s buddy got back first and waited until after dark until Cory showed up shaken and sweaty saying he’d got lost. His friend checked his truck and found that his gas tank was low and suggested he go run and get a fill up so they would be able to do more hunting at a different location tomorrow. Cory said he would build a fire and get the dinner started, but as his friend drove away he noticed Cory had been trying to shoot a grouse. The entire area is a wide watershed of lakes, creeks, and swamp. Many stories of strange animals and Indian folklore of creatures that inhabit the swamps persist to this day. Cory is about to find out why.

An hour later his hunting buddy returns. It is pitched dark, and the campfire was not been lit. Cory is nowhere to be found. His partner calls out, searches the area on foot and then reports his pal missing to the park rangers. By morning, several rescuers are at the scene tracing were Cory could have travelled in the short time he’d gone missing. The terrain was difficult. A person on foot could only make it so far in such a period of time. Yet, efforts proved fruitless. For several days searchers scoured the area attempting to save the hunter’s life before he died of exposure, but to no avail. Then the first snowfall blanketed the area forcing the search to be called off. The terrain was much too dangerous for people to be walking over snow that covered all kinds of debris, water, and other entanglements.

In April, as the snow began to melt, search efforts continued where estimates of his ability to cover ground were traced once more, but this time something was found. A helicopter sighting found what appeared to be human remains! The sight was grizzly. Half of a torso was found. From the waist down with two legs still in the swamp water, what was believed to be Cory’s body was spotted. Only a skeleton remained and had been gnarled on by foxes or perhaps coyotes. This was not a bear attack, besides bears were just coming out of hibernation. Something had torn Cory in half. In the water they found his camera and a cell phone, but a long trail would have to be followed before more clues were uncovered.

39 miles from where Cory’s remains had been found, finally definite property identification was located. A shredded backpack, a jacket, and camping items were found, but his shotgun was never recovered. Everything was strewn about as though someone were demonstrating a careless disregard and perhaps even warning whoever found the items not to come closer! Cory had been an experienced hunter and had survival skills, was well armed, and had intended to set up camp while waiting for his buddy to return, but something terrifying had taken place! Park rangers in their report claimed a dangerous wild animal mauling incident had occurred, but with Cory’s belongings and part of his body 39 miles apart? According to David Paulides, author of the 4-11 Book Series of Missing Persons in our national parks, this was a classic case of an unsolved incident. Weather conditions halting search efforts, the missing person being miles from the point of separation, remains found in an area previously searched, and belongings scattered at impossible distances!

However, there was another element that played into this mystery. A swamp monster, Skunk Ape, or Bigfoot indigenous to the marshy area had been reported by many observers over the years, leading David Paulides to conclude that Cory Kelly had been grabbed and murdered by a powerful man-like predator who had overpowered a well-armed hunter! Then there was the film that Cory had taken which was time stamped. He had lived for two more days after his disappearance. Had he gotten lost then been attacked? Park rangers reported cause of death as being hypothermia most likely, but a body being torn in half. A bear would not have left a body half eaten, but neither would a bear rip the torso from the lower half of the body in all likelihood either.

The film he had taken showed some woven branch structures that were crafted, not natural structures, a photo of an underground cave entrance, and the head of a cryptid sticking out of the brush. That head was furry, black in color, with a face partially human in appearance. Then there were the huge human-like footprints in the soft ground. This was the evidence that proved that this was no unfortunate tragedy! It had been an attack!

Beltrami Island State Park eventually connects to the fifth largest fresh water lake in the US. Near the Canadian border. The area was once noted for being host to vast herds of deer and smaller animals ripe for hunting, but in the weeks following Cory’s death, more of the same happened. Two teenagers who took a drive into the area disappeared, their minivan was found abandoned, and they were never seen again. Weeks later a fisherman, well acquainted with the area, set out on a misty morning to fish from the banks of the lake, when he saw what he thought was another sportsman on the shore opposite his position. As the haze cleared and he watched intently he observed a huge dark figure with broad shoulders long arms and a height that exceeded any normal human being slowly moving in and out of the brush. When it turned to glimpse directly at him, he ran hysterically, dropping his fishing gear, and leaving it behind on his way to his vehicle!

Now, say hikers and visitors to the area, it seems that deer and small game have strangely diminished in numbers. Could it be that a hidden threat that has either devoured the game in the area, or they sense danger and have been driven to more distant woodlands to graze safely? However, the local residents know why. They say that the Skunk Ape that has made Beltrami Island State Park its home has now established its hunting ground, and man is not off the menu!  Indians, who have declared the area a forbidden zone, have given the park a wide berth for decades. It appears that wherever superstition and legend exist, a terrible reality seems to intersect.