Location: Mogo, New South Wales
Event: Death
Date: Late 1970's
This report has been passed word of mouth by several people, even a Policeman, and may not be completely accurate in all aspects.
The guide involved in the story told it to my father, and then he told me, when he felt I was old enough to understand.
There was a Canadian tour party, who had read articles about the Yowie, and came to Australia, fully equipped to bag/shoot one. There were four people in the party, and they shopped around for a guide, asking about Yowie sightings. Eventually they found a guide, who agreed to take them to an area known for Yowie activity.
They took five horses in a truck and float, and drove as far as they could by vehicle, then saddled up the horses, and carried on horseback further into the bush.
They stopped at an area of previous sightings, and decided it would be a good area to set up camp. There were snapped off saplings in the bush around the area.
One of the horses was spooked by something, and reared up. It must have lost it's footing and it rolled over on top of the rider, and broke his leg. They were all feeling uncomfortable. They set up the tent, and placed the injured man inside a sleeping bag to keep him warm, and to avoid too much shock setting in. They built a fire, and had plenty of firewood to keep the fire burning.
The guide said he would go out to get help for the wounded man. The other tourists, still feeling uneasy, decided to go with the guide, as they were not comfortable staying there. They left the injured man, with food, and a 306 rifle with 5 rounds of ammunition. It was close to sundown when the party left the sight.
The next day, they came back by rescue helicopter, to lift the injured man off to hospital. When they landed, they met a gruesome scene. The man was dead, his arm had been ripped off, and his head was beaten in. There was blood all around the tent. The rifle was smashed and the butt broken. There were five spent cartridges.
The fire was kicked everywhere. At the edge of the clearing there was also evidence of blood.
The helicopter pilot radioed for the police, and the State Police arrived shortly after, also by helicopter. The area where the incident occurred, was actually under Federal jurisdiction, so the State Police could do nothing, they just secured the site until the Federal Police arrived.
They took samples of the blood at the edge of the clearing. The body was placed in a body bag, and the rest of the party, were taken into custody. All their belongings were confiscated. They were escorted to the airport, where they were told, that they would never be able to come back to Australia.
They were told that there had been a shooting accident, and that they should not discuss any of the details with anyone. The body was enclosed in a lead-lined coffin, and sent back to Canada on the same plane.
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