(1) January 4, 2024

 

Tracy Torme’, 64

Sliders Co-Creator, Star Trek: The Next Generation writer, Fire in the Sky executive producer, and Ufologist. Son of the 1950s’ singer, Mel Torme’.

 

 

(2) January 22, 2024

Theodore “Ted” Bloecher, 94

NICAP, CSI, UFO author, actor, singer, celebrated in gay culture. (Source.)

 

(3) February 15, 2024

William “Rebel” C. Brann, 85, coauthor of Monsters of the Northwoods, with Paul and Robert Bartholomew, and Bruce Hallenbeck. Born May 11, 1938-passed away in Hudson Falls, NY, on Feb 15, 2024. (Source.)

 

(4) May 31, 2024

Barbara Rush, 97, was born 4 January 1927; died 31 March 2024.

Barbara Rush, a popular leading actor in the 1950 and 1960s who co-starred with Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman and other top film performers and later had a thriving TV career, died at 97. She won a Golden Globe for most promising newcomer for It Came from Outer Space (1953). She shined in Peyton Place. (Source.)

 

(5) May 10, 2024

Dr. Bruce Maccabee

Dr. Bruce S. Maccabee, age 82, passed away May 10, 2024, at his home. 

Maccabee was born May 6, 1942; was a 1968 graduate of Rutland High School in Rutland VT. He received his bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA and his master’s and PhD from the American University in Washington D.C. Bruce served 37 1/2 years as an Optical Physicist for the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center, and he was a world-renowned Author and Physicist. A scientist investigated the mysteries of UFOs, crashes, and government cover-ups. (Source.)

 

(6) May 21, 2024.

Richard Ellis, 86, 

Richard Ellis, 86, died May 21, 2024. He often found himself quoted on cryptozoology reality programming, attended the International Society of Cryptozoology meeting at Rutgers with Patrick Huyghe, Loren Coleman, Richard Greenwell, and others. He was an American marine biologist, author, and illustrator. He was a research associate in the American Museum of Natural History’s division of paleontology, special adviser to the American Cetacean Society, and a member of the Explorers Club. His two most cryptozoological books are Monsters of the Sea (1994) and The Search for the Giant Squid (1998). (Source.)

 

(7) July 12, 2024

Tony “Doc” Shiels,  age 85 or 86.

When Shiels died, he was called variously the  “Wizard of the West”  and “Wizard” of varied realms. Besides magic, Loch Ness Monster’s probable hoaxes, Oilman sightings, and related cryptozoological events of the 1970s and 1980s covered by Shiels, they were in his own book, Monstrum, and in the 1996 book Owlman and Others by Jon Downes. (Source.)

 

(8) August 22, 2024

Henry Franzoni, 67.

Franzoni was once on the Board of Advisors of Peter Byrne’s Bigfoot Research Project with Ron Morehead from 1993-1998. They spent nearly $5 million investigating Bigfoot. In 1993, he created the first Bigfoot website on the web and created the first online Bigfoot discussion group. Henry founded the IVBC (Internet Virtual Bigfoot Conference), and from it issued many groups and organizations that continue as active through the present. Franzoni appeared in a film, Drumming for Bigfoot (1997) and Sasquatch Odyssey (1999), where he unforgettably plays drums to “talk” to Bigfoot. (Source.)

 

(9) September 2, 2024 

 

Jerry Dale Coleman, 70

My youngest brother was my greatest loss in 2024. It was a difficult obituary to write. It is extensive, and can be read here. 

Jerry explored strange areas in the South and Midwest, was there first talking to the Lowe family about the Thunderbirds of Lawndale, Logan County, Illinois, and produced the Fortean cards that were groundbreaking in 1994. He also wrote two Strange Highways books. (Source.)

 

(10) September 9, 2024

James Earl Jones, 93

Barney Hill in The UFO Incident, Darth Vader in Star Wars, Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams, and remarkably his first feature film role was in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.

 

 

(11) September 18, 2024

Giles “Red” Grossinger, Major (retired), 84.

Sasquatch researcher Giles “Red” Grossinger was a Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces having served over 30 years in the Armoured Corp. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion for 38 Years serving twice as Whitehorse Legion Branch President,1995 and 2008 to 2011, and many other executive positions. Red was honored with a Lifetime Membership and was the recipient of the Royal Canadian Legion Meritorious Service Medal with Palm Leaf, a Veterans Affairs Commendation and many other honors and awards. He wrote a Sasquatch tracking manual, as well. (Source.)

 

(12) November 16, 2024

Sonya Zonya, 

This podcaster gained a wide following as she announced her death in conjunction with her “paranormal” pursue of Bigfoot. Her passing was discussed widely on Facebook. 

 

(13) November 24, 2024 

 

Christopher O’Brien. 67

On Sunday morning, November 24, 2024, Christopher O’Brien, well-known author of several works on his investigations of unexplained phenomena (including UFOs, UAPs, and cattle mutilations) was experiencing what he thought was a “panic attack.” He decided to drive himself to a near-by hospital in Sedona, Arizona, where he was living at the time. He died on route.

He ran into and was apparently instantly killed by a stone sign (pictured). (Source.)

Due to O’Brien’s accident, the Church of Christ sign metaphorically said the “Church of Chris” in startling post-crash photographs.

Chris O’Brien (March 24, 1957 – November 24, 2024) now joins this list of Mutology researchers: David Perkins (October 18, 1945 ~ August 20, 2023). Mark A. Hall (June 16, 1946 ~ September 28, 2016). Tom Adams (May 6, 1945 ~ August 20, 2014). Gary Massey (March 5, 1948 ~ September 7, 2010)

 

(14 & 15) December 24, 2024.

Two Unidentified Bigfoot Searchers, 59 & 37

As the year ends…there is this:

Two Portland Oregon men died while searching for Sasquatch in eastern Skamania County, the Skamania Sheriff’s Office told the media on 28 Dec 2024. The men, 59 and 37, were found dead in a heavily wooded area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest after a 3-day search. Their names have not been released yet.

The search for the men, 59 and 37, began around 1 a.m. on Christmas Day after a family member reported them missing, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office posted on their Facebook page. Authorities said Flock camera footage spotted their car near Willard, Washington. (Source.)

(Please share if you become aware of their names.)

Other passings, continued:

Bigfoot Books, 40600 Highway 299, Willow Creek, California, opened in 2001, owned by Steven Streufert, was destroyed in a fire on September 1, 2023. It was declared in 2024 that it will remain closed. (Source.)

Bigfoot Discovery Museum,  a simple, red, two room building, open since 2004, on Highway 9 near Felton, California, by Michael Rugg, closed on December 31, 2024, permanently. (Source.)

 

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