2/22/2015 Ladies of Bigfoot: Kathy Strain; Monica Rawlins, Melissa Hovey-Larsen and Sharon Lee

Cryptid month comes to a close as Fred Kracke is our last contestant in the BTE Radio Search For A New Co-Host Contest. Fred and Eric welcome three well recognized ladies of Bigfoot Research, Kathy Strain, Monica Rawlins, Melissa Hovey-Larsen and Sharon Lee to the program this week. Kathy Strain is the Heritage Resource and Tribal Relations Programs Manager for the Stanislaus National Forest in Sonora, California. She has a M.A. in Anthropology and is conducts research on native cultures and their traditional bigfoot beliefs. Her book, Giants, Cannibals & Monsters: Bigfoot in Native Culture covers this subject in depth, including 154 stories from 57 tribes from throughout North America. Kathy is also the on the Board of Directors for the non-profit Alliance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers www.bigfootresearch.com and a member of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy. Monica Rawlins is a stellar figure in the world of sasquatch/bigfoot studies and investigations. A cofounder of the Texas Bigfoot Research Center and vice chair of the Alliance of Independent Bigfoot Researchers, Monica enjoys great popularity as co-host of the acclaimed CryptoCast web-based broadcast. Among Monica’s other major achievements is her role as the co-organizer of the Original Texas Bigfoot Conference which brings together hundreds of investigators and researchers from across North America and globally. The conference has previously shattered attendance records for events of this nature. Monica is an experienced outdoors woman with an extensive background in Bigfoot research and the paranormal. Her experience has included training new investigators in the areas of field work, safe outdoor practices and evidence collection. She's been a field researcher for over 11 years and has traveled across the U.S. to conduct her research in the field of Bigfoot. Her television work includes featuring in the MonsterQuest episode on the History Channel where she was a member of a historic all-woman bigfoot investigations team, a first in the field of Bigfoot and in television history. As well, Monica was featured in Weird Travels on the Travel Channel. Her other media experience consists of co-hosting popular pod casts “Beyond the Edge Radio”, “The Grey Area”, “The Bigfoot Field Reporter” and most recently the videocast, “The CryptoCast”, where her quick wit and no-nonsense attitude toward research and evidence has garnered her a solid fan base. While her main research recently has been dedicated to the search for Bigfoot, Monica has also kept an active interest in all things cryptozoologial and paranormal. Her points of interest and knowledge, outside of Sasquatch, are Native American legends with a focus on Skinwalkers and Windego. When time permits, Monica also researches and investigates ghosts and hauntings in the North Texas Area. In addition to Monica’s paranormal investigations in Texas, she also has extensive knowledge on hauntings and legends of the British Isles. TV appearances: Travel Channel 2005 Weird Travels, episode “Bigfoot” MonsterQuest 2006 Episode “Bigfoot”, all female expedition to Skookum Meadow in Washington State: Weird Travels: https://www.google.ca/search?q=weird+travels+bigfoot&oq=weird+travels+bigfoot&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.9437j0j8&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=0&ie=UTF-8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM3QV3OYzoc Melissa Hovey-Larsen, began her research into the Bigfoot Phenomenon while living in Dallas, Texas in 2005. Since then she has conducted or organized field expeditions in the great states of; Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Melissa then moved to Ohio in 2008 and married fellow ABS Board member, Wayne Larsen, in October of 2014 where they continue to conduct research in the large expanses of Ohio's State Parks and private property. Melissa is a tough, no-nonsense, researcher who applies her educational background, and work experience in criminal investigations, to the research. Melissa is the current president of the "American Bigfoot Society", (ABS). Melissa owns the blog, "The Search for Bigfoot," (txsasquatch.blogspot.com). Where she discusses the research and her own personal opinions of, "evidence," being released publicly and the larger issues affecting the research community as a whole. Since 2007, Melissa, has co-hosted many Internet radio shows starting with: "Let's Talk Bigfoot," on Talkshoe. She then joined Sean Forker and, "The Sasquatch Experience," in February 2008. In June of 2008 she began co-hosting a new program on Talkshoe, with friend and Field Researcher Monica Rawlins, titled, "The Grey Area," which moved to BlogTalk Radio. Melissa was also featured in the all-female expedition episode of the History Channels "Monster Quest" titled "Bigfoot". She also appears in Nat Geo channels, "Paranatural 2: Sasquatch Planet." Melissa has also appeared as a guest on many internet radio programs and nationally syndicated radio talk shows in reference to this mystery. Melissa was also a speaker at the 2012 and 2013, "Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo," in Chautauqua Lake, New York. Starting in 2006, Melissa has endeavored to discover the answer to the question, "why do artifacts happen in casting?" She has also been an outspoken advocate for women in the field of research and, the need for more women, to become actively involved in this mystery. www.txsasquatch.blogspot.com www.americanbigfootsociety166.weebly.com Join us as we welcome Kathy, Monica, Melissa and Sharon Lee this week.