FAYETTE COUNTY, West Virginia –
A Fayette County man, Reginald Jacobson, called NBC affiliate WVVA on Tuesday evening and left a message saying he had found and hunted down Bigfoot. Reporter Steve Muscabi chuckled when he first heard the message.
“The guy sounded very excited, left his name and number and home address, so we decided to follow-up the message and return his phone call,” said Muscabi. “It was about 4 hours after the initial call when I called back. He was sobbing so uncontrollably I could barely understand him. He kept repeating ‘I have made a terrible mistake, I didn’t mean to do it, I’m so sorry!’ He just kept repeating those words.”
After asking several times for Jacobson to slow down and explain what was happening, Muscabi was finally able to get Jacobson to explain what he’d done.
“Finally, he said ‘It was Betty, I killed Betty, Oh dear Lord, I killed my wife!'” recalls Muscabi. “I quickly scribbled down [Muscabi’s] address, handed it to an intern, and told him to call 9-1-1.”
When West Virginia State police arrived on the scene, they were shocked and confused to find 47-year-old Betty Jacobson shot to death and in a tub filled with cold water. The weirdest part, investigators say, is that she was in a Sasquatch costume.
“What we have is a very disturbing case that is currently being investigated simply as a homicide,” said West Virginia State Police spokesperson Lt. Paul Hart. “I can only say at this point that we are diligently investigating the shooting death of Betty Jacobson, any further information will be released when we are prepared to do so.”
“Whether this was foul play or a tragic accident, it is absolutely terrible.” said WVVA reporter Muscabi. “Being the first person to hear Mr. Jacobson’s message and having even laughed when I heard it, and for it to turn out this way is so disturbing. I hope friends and family get the answers they deserve.”
A neighbor of the Jacobson’s, who asked to not be named, was standing on the edge of his property while police were investigating the bizarre scene, and told reporters that Jacobson had been obsessed with finding Bigfoot.
“I always thought he was crazy, he was truly obsessed. He had pictures from alleged sightings hanging all over his living room wall, his obsession seemed to escalate when the TV reality series Finding Bigfoot began to air. That show seemed to have awakened something in him. It became a lifetime goal for him to be the one to find Bigfoot.”
Finding Bigfoot is a reality television series which premiered in 2011. The show documents four Bigfoot experts in their quest to find the elusive creature throughout the United States and Canada. The show airs on the Animal Planet cable network. No comment has been made by the network or producers of the television show.