Two Hunters Found Dead After Sasquatch Hunt in Washington Forest

A story out of Skamania County, Washington has been making the rounds across hunting forums and true crime communities for over a year now, and after finally sitting down with the footage and accounts circulating online, it's easy to see why this one refuses to die down. On Christmas Eve 2024, two experienced outdoorsmen from Portland, Oregon, drove into the Gifford Pincho National Forest with one goal in mind: find Sasquatch and bring back proof. Gregor Sheborgost, a 59-year-old wilderness survival expert, and 37-year-old John Thomas, a bank employee by weekday and outdoorsman by passion, set up camp at a remote spot locals call Paco's Rock. They were supposed to be home by Christmas Eve. They never made it. Three days later, search teams recovered their bodies roughly 50 feet from their tent. Their rifles were nearby. John's was still loaded and unfired. Gregor's had three spent rounds. The tent itself was untouched. Food and water still inside. And sitting in the corner of that tent was a 10-pound clump of something raw, uncut, roughly hand-shaped, and coated in what looked like spices. Nobody who worked that scene has ever explained what it was. The Skamania County Sheriff's Office ruled the deaths as exposure, citing brutal winter weather and the men being underprepared. Case closed on paper. But almost nobody who actually knew these two men is buying it. Gregor had decades of experience in those mountains. Both men had proper cold weather gear, navigation equipment, food, water, and firearms. These weren't tourists who wandered too far off the trail. Then things got stranger. A short clip, just over 10 seconds long, started circulating online. Whoever posted it claimed it came from a motion-activated camera set up inside the men's own tent. The footage shows Gregor and John grabbing their rifles in the middle of the night and stepping outside in a hurry. Seconds later, something enormous fills the tent opening, covered in thick dark hair, towering well above the flap. It pauses there, watching. Then it turns and silently follows their trail into the dark. That clip hasn't been verified, and it should be treated with real skepticism. But it's unsettling in a way that goes beyond typical cryptid footage. The theory that's taken hold among people who've studied this case closely goes something like this: Gregor, ever the careful planner, allegedly packed a heavy amount of raw meat as bait, betting the smell would draw a Sasquatch in close enough for a clear shot or photo. If that 10-pound clump really was bait, then something may have picked up the scent that night. The theory suggests whatever was out there ignored the food entirely and started circling the tent itself, treating the two men as the more interesting target. In pitch darkness with no clear line of sight, neither man would have had time to aim properly. John's rifle, still loaded and unfired, suggests he may never have gotten the chance. Gregor managed to get three rounds off into the dark. Into what, nobody knows. This case hits close to home for anyone who's spent time in the Pacific Northwest woods. Skamania County has long been considered one of the most Sasquatch-heavy regions in the country, with a deep history of sightings dating back decades. The area around the Gifford Pincho National Forest has produced countless reports over the years, including a well-circulated 2015 account from a hunter named Brent Dawson, who captured footage on a trail camera of a large dark shape crouched between two tree trunks that rose up onto two legs with arms hanging far longer than any man's should. Brent packed up and left before nightfall and said later he didn't want to imagine what might have happened if he hadn't caught that movement on camera when he did. Gregor's own history with the subject ran deep too. Years before this final trip, he had reportedly dozed outside his tent when an overpowering smell hit him. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a huge, hairy, upright shape watching him from a short distance away. The two locked eyes for a moment. The second Gregor reached for his rifle, the shape turned and vanished into the trees with a speed that didn't seem possible for something that size. He never stopped talking about it. He wanted to go back and find it again. That December trip was supposed to be the one where he finally did. The official file on this case is closed. The physical evidence, beyond what little has been shared, remains unreleased. No forensic report describing an attack has been made public. But the questions remain. What was that 10-pound clump? What did Gregor fire three rounds at in the dark? And what followed those two men out of their tent that Christmas night? For anyone who wants to dig into the full timeline, the original reporting, and the details surrounding the tent footage, the video covering this case is worth the watch. It's one of those stories that stays with you long after the screen goes dark.