Wiitala, Russell: - Russell Wiitala was born in May of 1952, in Vancouver Washington. He spent his first 12 years growing up in a Portland suburb. At that time, the suburbs were rapidly expanded, yet there were still woods and fields to play in and explore. He has always had a great affinity for the wilderness. When Russell was 12, his parents invested in a motel located in Grants Pass Oregon. Russell was living there when the famous P/G film of a female bigfoot at Bluff creek California was filmed, not far from Grants Pass. Russell was aware of the event, but did not become too obsessed with it at the time. He graduated from Astoria High School and went into the Navy a few months later. After his tour of duty, he attended Oregon State University for almost three years. Then, moved to Bay Center Washington and learned how to gillnet salmon with his father, eventually owning his own boat and commercial fishing license. He also worked in the oyster beds and built crab pots. In 1980 he began working for the U.S. post office as a rural carrier until his retirement in 2007. Along the way, Russell learned how to fly and owned two different aircraft during his flying days. He began to participate in the local theater productions. He also became a good water skier and even learned how to ski a slalom course. When he retired, he received a job offer to become a snow ski instructor, but turned it down. Russell has spent a lot of time out in the wilderness hiking and backpacking. Only once, that he can remember, did he have a possible encounter with sasquatch while fishing in the early eighties. It consisted of nothing more than some rocks coming off of a ridge. After retirement, Russell heard about a local family who had seen sasquatch on a hike. That prompted his search for the legendary creature.