The Bigfoot hunter behind one of the most famous videos of the mythical beast has been found dead.
Claudia Ackley, 51, caught the cryptid on camera in 2016 and afterwards dedicated her life to investigating other strange sightings.
The mum-of-two was found dead at her home in Tennessee on July 3, her partner confirmed.
On March 27 2016 she filmed the 800lb ape-like creature while hiking with her daughters.
The next day she visited the same spot and discovered a 22-inch footprint and a 13-inch footprint near the site.
While investigating she posted a note on a tree calling on others to get in touch if they had similar sightings. One hiker claimed they regularly heard screams that sounded like “a woman getting raped” along the trail.
She was so dedicated to proving Bigfoot's existence she even sued the state of California in the hope they would begin to take the search seriously.
During her research, she found thousands of similar sightings around the US and even set up a PTSD group for people who had seen Bigfoot.
Paying tribute to Claudia, grieving partner Ed told the US Sun how the community has "lost a soldier."
He had become worried for her after he didn't hear from her for days when he was out of town on a business trip. He got a friend to check on her, who found Claudia lying on the bed as if she was asleep.
According to police she likely died of a heart attack.
Ed said:"It could be caused by hypertension or an issue with her medication. but there is nothing to suggest anything untoward or anything related to any conspiracy theory. It is so important to me that is made clear.
"I want to protect her legacy, she was a great person with a heart the size of Texas and she wanted to help everybody.
"She would give everything she had to help people who needed it. Right up until the very end, she believed in what she saw."
He said that Claudia truly believed in these mysterious creatures' existence.
She wanted to force the state of California and the fish and wildlife authority to take sightings seriously.
He added: "The community - regardless of anyone's views - has lost someone who was willing to stand up and fight for their beliefs. The Bigfoot community lost a soldier."
Describing her Bigfoot sighting to The Sun in 2018, Claudia recalled: “It was terrifying - a life-changing experience."
It started when she was hiking with her daughters and her daughter spotted something. Thinking it was a bear Claudia leapt into action.
She explained: “As a mom, you’d die for your kids, so I immediately ran about 20 feet in front of them and as I'm looking straight at the trees in front of me there was an enormous creature - this thing is about 800 pounds with a huge head - like three of ours - with huge ears and black almond-shaped eyes. He was like a Neanderthal man with lots of messy hair.
“He was kind of perched about 30 feet up between two branches of a tree and I'm looking at it, trying to register: ‘What is it this? What am I looking at?’"
