Two grown men who decided to search for Bigfoot on Christmas Eve tragically froze to death in the mountains in Washington state. They were looking for the mythical Sasquatch in a mountainous area in Skamania County, just northeast of the Portland/Vancouver area. After they were reported missing, it took a massive search effort to locate their bodies in a remote area in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office believes the two men, aged 37 and 59, succumbed to exposure in the freezing temperatures. Foul play is not suspected, and they don’t believe that Bigfoot killed them.

The two men were expected home on Christmas, but they never made it. A family member reported them missing on Christmas morning, which resulted in a 60-person volunteer rescue squad being called out to look for them.

Due to freezing temperatures, rain, and snow, it took three days to locate the bodies. Rescue crews used helicopters, drones, search dogs, and ground teams to comb through the thick forest. The Coast Guard and seven law enforcement groups also had their Christmas ruined by the search. The men’s car was located in the town of Willard, WA, which allowed crews to narrow the search area down.

Anyone who grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s and ‘80s can tell you that the top two news items in any given month were the search for DB Cooper’s stolen cash and the search for Bigfoot. The fascination with searching for the nonexistent beast continues to this day, despite dozens of people admitting years later that all videos and footprints found over the years were hoaxes.