BLOG: Guest Post from Linda Godfrey - Michigan Dogman Goes for Children on Roof
This blog post has been shared with permission from Linda Godfrey. Her original posting is available on her blog site, Linda Godfrey's Blog. Thank you, Linda, for allowing The Confessionals to share this blog entry!
"In my previous blog post, I shared the encounter of a Michigan man who was confronted by a wolf-like creature sitting on the roof of his house, watching him. In the following report, we will see that it may not be any comfort to an eyewitness to be the one sitting on the roof, as dogmen don’t appear to see that amount of height as any barrier. Tina Cole gave permission to use her name and a sketch that she drew. In her own words, only slightly edited:
''Bear with me here, because i’m trying to paint a mental picture for you:
I guess I should start by saying that the only people who know about this is my immediate family, my fiance (who’s encouraged me to contact you) and the person who witnessed this with me. This happened back in 2001. I was only 8 yrs. old at the time, my friend who was with me at the time was 7.
We were both very small.
I remember it was early August, and I lived/ live in a semi-inner city in Michigan, next to a very large park. At the time, my friend and I had decided it was a great idea to play in my very big back yard at night, because the neighbors had a bonfire going. It just barely lit that portion of my yard through a bunch of trees.
We had climbed onto the shed via the neighbor’s fence and a propped board. I mention this because it’s nearly impossible to climb to this day, being an adult. (I can send size comparison photos if you’d like. or a drawing if it would be easier.)
Anyway, we had our feet dangling off of the shed, with our backs facing toward the park. And without a word, my friend had jumped off of the highest part of our shed (which we were never able to do, I mean he practically flew) and headed straight for the house. After a long few seconds I turned around to see why he ran, and there was this thing. It looked half dog and half human, there’s really no other way to describe it.
It had to have been over 8 ft. high (the height of the shed) and its reaching length was over 4 ft. Its ears alone had to have been a foot long, at least, and its eyes did that thing a cat’s eyes do when light reflects on them in the dark. Its hand was inches away from my ankle. Very, very hairy body. It was basically a dog. I don’t exactly remember the color of it, if it even had a color, but I do remember that whatever this was, was standing from the ground because we didn’t have a chain link fence, it was all parallel wood that you couldn’t stand on,) and it was MASSIVE. So tall that I could see [it] from its middle torso and up. That was literally the fastest I’ve ever rolled away, I don’t even remember how I got down. Ran inside and told our parents. We had no idea what it was at the time so I vaguely remember telling my mom that there was a tall man outside with a very hairy arm and big ears.
All of the adults went outside really quick to check, but I guess they never found anything. To this day I’m still afraid of the fact that even if what I saw was a man in a VERY elaborate, A-movie horror costume, I was still almost abducted. Since then my mom has become a bit of a fanatic about it. Its caused me a lot of anxiety problems. My friend and I never mentioned it after that night, and we’ve since grown apart.
I’ve tried to get in contact with him so I could have some outside perspective and opinion, so I know I’m not crazy, but to no avail.
(Second letter, in answer to my questions)
I’m so incredibly sorry it has taken me so long to respond, I know you’re probably very busy and I don’t mean to waste your time. I can give you a pretty detailed sketch.
There are many woods where I’m from, I’m surrounded by a very large, heavily wooded park, along with woods directly in front of the house. However, it’s an urban area, so I think that’s one of the reasons I’m afraid to tell anyone, because it seems like the most unlikeliest of places for this to happen. Everything is pretty dilapidated. Buildings, railroads, actual roads, you name it. But no matter where you go, there a deer everywhere around my neighborhoods. It’s a huge problem.
You can absolutely share my encounter. I need people to know. No anonymity necessary.
As far as other details go I can tell you the color of the fur must have been some shade of brown, because it wasn’t immediately noticeable, but it wasn’t too dark to see the figure at night. And quiet. Everything was so quiet and it didn’t make any noise. The next I can do is send you this drawing, which I will do, and a photo of the shed for size comparison, if it helps. I mean, because describing it just isn’t enough.'
I’m not sure why Tina didn’t offer the name of the urban area where she was located (and evidently still lives). She may not wish to have her home’s location made public, as is her right. I have two other quick comments about the creature reported. First, regarding its height of 8 1/2 feet, that is quite high compared to most estimates of dogman size, but not unheard of. It may have been that everything seems larger to a small child, but she still lives at the place and so is able to make her estimation of its height as a grown person, too.
I also thought about the fact that she said it was very quiet, and that does make sense if it was sneaking up quietly on possible prey. And that adds another layer of fright to the story, which, as an example of a large, unknown predator stalking semi-urban areas just as bears and packs of coyotes often do these days, is already quite scary enough."