Bigfoot chasers make a monkey of a find

TWO researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say the carcass encased in a block of ice turned out to be a rubber gorilla suit.

The carcass — handed over to the pair for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it — was slowly thawed out, and the deception was discovered.

The revelation comes days after a much vaunted news conference was held in California to proclaim that the remains of the creature, found in the North Georgia mountains, was the legendary man-ape.

Steve Kulls, executive director of squatchdetective.com, and host of Squatchdetective Radio, says in a posting on a website run by Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi, that as the “evidence” was thawed, the claim began to unravel as a giant hoax.

First, the hair sample was burned and “melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair”, said Kulls.

The thawing process was sped up and the exposed head was found to be “unusually hollow in one small section”. An hour of thawing later and the feet were exposed — and they were made of rubber.

Matt Whitton, an officer who has been on medical leave from the Clayton County Police Department, and Rick Dyer, a former Georgia corrections officer, announced the find in early July on YouTube videos and a website.

Phone calls to Whitton and Dyer were unreturned yesterday.

But the voicemail recording for their Bigfoot Tip Line — which proclaims they search for leprechauns and the Loch Ness monster — has been updated.