Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Strange Case of Theresa Ann Bier

Sasquatch lore is rife with tales of abductions. Native American tribes from one end of the North American continent to the other have told tales for centuries of how these hair-covered giants, if given the chance, would snatch up women and/or children. The tribes differed somewhat on what the suspected motivation of the sasquatches might have been. Some tribes felt sasquatches were cannibals that were taking people in order to feed on them. Other tribes felt that the motivation was of a more amorous nature. Regardless of the motivation behind the abductions, such things don’t happen in modern times, if they ever really happened at all, right? These stories are just that; stories, folk tales, and myths…aren’t they?

Maybe not.

Albert Ostman claims to have been snatched up while dozing in his sleeping bag in the wilds of British Columbia in 1924 by a male sasquatch and kept as a captive for six days by a family of these creatures before managing to escape. While not as well known as Ostman’s story, the tale of a Nootka Indian named Muchalat Harry is very similar. He, too, claimed to have been grabbed by a large male sasquatch and carried off to be presented to a large number of these animals in 1928. Harry claimed the sasquatches lost interest in him after a while which provided him an opportunity to escape. Ostman suspected he might have been taken as a possible suitor for a young female in the family unit. Muchalat Harry suspected he might have been taken as a potential meal. Was either of them correct? No one can say for sure. While more recent than the ancient Native American tales of abduction, these alleged incidents still took place a very long time ago. Nothing like that has happened since, right?

Again, maybe not.

On June 1, 1987, Fresno native Theresa Ann Bier, then 16 years old, traveled into the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains of California with then 43 year-old Russell Welch. Welch fancied himself a bigfoot expert and was taking the teen out on a hunt for the legendary beast in the vicinity of Shuteye Peak. Welch claimed to have had contact with sasquatches in the past and wanted to share his experiences with the teenaged Bier. What happened after the pair arrived is not known. All that is known is that Russell Welch returned to Fresno without Theresa Ann Bier.

Welch was interrogated by sheriff’s deputies once it became clear Bier was missing. He claimed that they had gone out on a hike in the hopes of making contact with a sasquatch. He went on to say that somehow he became separated from Bier and that during this time she was abducted by a one of the creatures. To say authorities doubted his story would be an understatement. A search of the area where the two had camped was immediately ordered but failed to turn up anything. Despite the continued efforts of dedicated searchers, no sign of Theresa Ann Bier was found.


Russell Welch was later charged with child stealing and was scheduled to stand trial; however, officials abruptly dropped the charges and freed him just three days before the court proceedings were to begin. Officials realized they had no physical evidence upon which to build a case and were afraid they were destined to lose a jury trial. If that were to happen, Russell Welch would go free and not be subject to future prosecution, even if Bier’s remains were later located, due to laws against double jeopardy. The District Attorney decided it would be best to let Welch walk at the time and hope physical evidence would be found sometime in the future with which a stronger case could be built. No such evidence would come, however. Absolutely no sign of Theresa Ann Bier has been found in the nearly 25 years that have passed since the incident. She has simply vanished.

There are many questions about this case for which I was unable to find answers. Why was a 16 year-old girl allowed to go on a camping trip with a 43 year-old man? I’ve found no statements indicating that Theresa Ann Bier was taken into the mountains against her will. How did Russell Welch know Bier? What was the nature of their relationship? Neither have I been able to find an answer to whether or not Welch said he heard any cries for help from Bier or exactly why he felt so strongly that a sasquatch had snatched her. Clearly, something terrible happened out in the Central Sierra back in 1987, but what? I suspect strongly, as I’m sure most of you do, that Theresa Ann Bier was the victim of foul play and was not actually carried away by a sasquatch.

Still…

I do wonder why Russell Welch would concoct such an outlandish cover story. The mere fact that he was out camping with a 16 year-old girl was going to be enough to raise eyebrows. Surely he realized that authorities were not going to believe such a tale and that it would only cause more suspicion to come his way. Would it not have been more believable to say the he had become separated from Bier while hiking and been unable to locate her? Why not leave it at that? Why add that he believed a sasquatch was responsible? Maybe Welch was mentally unstable in some way or in shock from whatever traumatic event occurred? If so, he might not have been capable of understanding how bad he looked or how crazy he sounded. There is another possibility though…

He was telling the truth.

The truth as he recalled it anyway. What I’m suggesting is that this might have been a story created by an extremely sick mind. A mind so disturbed that it actually believed its own lie. I would really like to know if Russell Welch was ever given a polygraph test. If so, those results would be very interesting to review and would give an insight into what happened out there in the mountains back in 1987. While not admissible in court, a failed polygraph test would certainly firm up the theory that Russell Welch had something to do with the disappearance of Theresa Ann Bier. But what if the results showed Welch was telling the truth? It wouldn’t mean that Welch’s tale was true, of course. It would prove only that Welch believed it to be true. It would also have served to undermine any hopes the D.A. had of getting a conviction as the results would no doubt have been leaked to the public by Welch’s defense team in an attempt to influence prospective jurors had the case gone forward.


Should we completely discount Russell Welch’s story though? After all, we have those ancient Native American legends to ponder upon. I have always put a lot of stock in the knowledge of these tribes. Is it valid to choose to believe some tales of the First Nations Peoples and not others? What about Albert Ostman and Muchalat Harry? I have always found Ostman’s account to be too detailed in a pre-Patterson-Gimlin world to have simply been a complete fabrication. None other than a Catholic Priest named Father Anthony Terhaar vouched for Muchalat Harry. While the Father could not validate what had actually happened to Harry, he did testify about what he had been told, that he had nursed Harry for a full 3 weeks before the terrified Indian regained his strength and sanity, and that over the course of those weeks Harry’s hair turned snow white. Father Anthony also said that the once fearless trapper and outdoorsman never again dared venture out of the small village of Nootka. Father Anthony Terhaar believed Harry had suffered through a terrifying experience. If we entertain the possibility that there is something to all the old Native American tales and that Albert Ostman and Muchalat Harry may very well have been telling the truth, then don’t we at least have to consider the possibility that Russell Welch was telling the truth back in 1987?


I can tell you that the topic of sasquatch abductions is still discussed among those that keep up with such things, albeit in whispered tones. There have been cases, some very recent, in which people have vanished into the forest where suspected bigfoot sign was evident or where one of these creatures was reported seen a few days before or after the disappearance. If you believe it is possible these creatures exist and if you believe there is something to the old abduction stories then it would be illogical to think such a thing could not still happen. Noted outdoorsman Chester Moore wrote in his book Bigfoot Lives: Deal With It:

“Every year hundreds of people disappear in the forests and it is possible, although unlikely, that bigfoot creatures have something to do with some of these disappearances. Since they are a predatory animal, they are opportunists and it might be possible that they would and have attacked people.” 1


I tend to agree with Moore in that this is at the very least a possibility. As such, we should not simply dismiss abduction claims out of hand. Even if they come from a 43 year-old man who likely had no business being out in the woods with a female minor less than half his age.

The truth about what happened to Theresa Ann Bier is almost certainly more mundane, though no less tragic, than her having been the victim of a sasquatch abduction. The story of Russell Welch is hard to swallow and likely not true. No evidence was found to support his claims but, in fairness, it is important to remember that neither was any evidence found that contradicted his story. It seems there was precious little evidence of any kind at all.

What happened to Theresa Ann Bier in the Central Sierra back in 1987? With each year that passes, the truth recedes farther into the mists of time. Unfortunately, it is likely that is where it will remain.

1 Moore, Jr., Chester. Bigfoot Lives: Deal With It. Orange, TX: 13 Productions, 2004. 102. Print.


30 comments:

  1. That is my sister wish I kw what happened but at the time I was 12 yrs old we miss her so much

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    1. Why on earth would your parents let her go with a grown man?

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    2. I'm so sorry :( I hope peace and answers come to your family. I'm praying for her.

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  2. There ARE Bigfoot in those Mountains!

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  3. Wow read book titled Missing 411? It will make you think twice about the woods.

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  4. I believe I was Russel Welch's son Terry's best friend at that time. I rented a room in a Victorian mansion on Van Ness st. at the time, when Terry needed a place I got him in there too. Then a few months later his father showed up with a girl, Bier I guess. I always wondered what had happened. Terry never had much good to say about his father and I guess this explains why. I always wondered what happened to that girl when Russel showed up at the house without her. I moved out later and forgot all about the incident until now.

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    1. ananymous, your a liar and a complete joke. I know you remember me, my name is chandra welch, i hope you know its people like you that spread lies just to feel a part of something,,, I think you met my parents briefly my brother didnt have any contact with my father at all.. because he moved away shortly after the death of my mother shannon, in 1985 . this case has been reopened and im sure if you saw theresa before she went missing ,,, the police department most deffinetly needs to know ,, play games on your own time

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    2. I KNOW THERE IS A GOD & YOUR FATHER WILL ANSWER HIM ....MY SISTER MISS BIER WAS MY SISTER & SHE WAS LIVING WITH MY FATHER JOHN RICHMOND @ THE TIME OF HER DEATH WHEN YOUR FATHER TOLD MY FATHER HE WAS DROPPING HER OFF AT SCHOOL YA" WELL SHE NEVER MADE IT BECAUSE YOUR SICK MINDED FATHER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A BETTER IDEA 2 KILL MY SISTER....@ LEAST YOU GOT TO PUT HIS BODY 2 REST BUT MY POOR SISTER DIDN'T GET THAT RESPECT BECAUSE HE TOOK THAT FROM HER FROM US....I HOPE U SLEEP GOOD @ NIGHT KNOWING WHAT U KNOW lady....

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    3. First of all the man my sister was living with was not her father it was her uncle John Richmond her dad's name is David Clarence beer and she has a lot of siblings Six Sisters.... and there was no permission given this pervert of a man took his disgusting past with him to the Grave and I know there's others that know about it like his family I know there was an accomplice and they should be the one going to prison.....

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  5. MY SISTER WILL NEVER BE @ REST BECAUSE OF THIS MAN HE TOOK HER DEATH 2 HIS GRAVE NOW HE HAS THE MOST HIGH 2 ANSWER 2 THAT MORE THEN ANYTHING HE WOULD OF SUFFERED ON EARTH....MY FATHER JOHN RICHMOND TOLD ME THAT YOUR FATHER TOOL MY SISTER 2 SCHOOL THAT MORNING BUT YA" SHE NEVER SHOWED UP THERE....INSTEAD HE TOOK HER HIKING IN SHORTS & SANDALS LOL COME ON REALLY ONLY A CRAZY PERSON COULD BELIEVE THAT AN HIS INSANE STORY.....BUT I HOPE U AN YOUR FAMILY SLEEP GOOD AT NIGHT KNOWING WHAT Y'ALL KNOW....

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    1. After reading this in missing 411 it just seemed like russel did it. I was hoping for more info. How did he gain access to her? Did your dad ask him to take her to school? The story I read makes it sound as though your parents gave permission for her to go camping with him. When did your family realize she was missing? When did Russell return and report her missing was it the same day? Is there any evidence that she was ever at the supposed campsite?

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    2. How did he gain access to her? Did your dad ask him to take her? The story in missing 411 makes it sound as though your parents gave permission for him to take her camping. When did your family realize she was missing? When did russel return and report her missing was it the same day? Any evidence she was ever at the supposed campsite?

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    3. After reading this in missing 411 it just seemed like russel did it. I was hoping for more info. How did he gain access to her? Did your dad ask him to take her to school? The story I read makes it sound as though your parents gave permission for her to go camping with him. When did your family realize she was missing? When did Russell return and report her missing was it the same day? Is there any evidence that she was ever at the supposed campsite?

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  6. Theresa's father gave her permission to go hiking/camping with Russell..they lived next door to each other and had been neighbors for some time..her father must of trusted the man...

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  7. Theresa's father gave her permission to go hiking/camping with Russell..they lived next door to each other and had been neighbors for some time..her father must of trusted the man...

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  8. First of all, Bigfoot is FAKE. If it existed, we'd have captured it/them by now and would have all kinds of information about it. Fake, fake, FAKE.

    Secondly, it's completely inexcusable that this girl was allowed to go camping with this guy.

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    1. THANK YOU. this is the only comment that makes sense.

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    2. I climbed on Shuteye Ridge several years ago with my girlfriend and we heard tree knocking. We had the distinct feeling of being watched. I have seen the tracks and scat of Biggoot in Amador and Tuolumne county. After multiple experiences over nearly fourty years I can say without a doubt that Sasquatch is out there in the woods of the Sierra. Do not discount the possibility you are being very ignorant and closed minded if you do. I am truly sorry for the relatives of anyone who has disappeared.

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    3. those of you who don't know bigfoot does exist are ignorant about this subject. It's something you've never really looked into.

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    4. Rob Hill
      I agree. I wrote a research paper on the existence of so-called Big Foot and did extensive research. There were many contradictions in witness reports. If we are able to prove dinosaurs existed why can't we prove Sasquatch exists? Because he/she doesn't exist. And you are right, a 15 year old girl going camping with a 43 year old man? No. That is just wrong.

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    5. After the first sighting of the Panda bear, it took another 75yrs to prove they existed! Sasquatch is human like and very elusive! There is well documented proof of Sas' existence. Do I believe this girl was abducted by Sas? No, I believe she met foul play from this Welch pervert! In his original story, he said she ran away from him in the woods! I believe she did, after he tried to molest/rape her and she took off. Whether he caught up to her and killed her or she fell to her death trying to flee him, we may never know!

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    6. I agree it's sad to hear that he got away with it..

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    7. hey= Sassy Frassy really good comment TY and i need proof of sir-big-Alot AKA YETI AKA bigfoot AKA Abdominal and on and on 1 thing we must use in defense of Bigfoot is the fact that over many 100's of years that different cultures far from 1 another-all have same story of encounter with sasquatch

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  9. To Teresa's sisters, I saddened to read this, I was looking for Bigfoot stories and came across this story. I hope that one day you will get closure. My heart is heavy for you all. Sending hugs via the internet. Sincerely Jennifer Gibbons

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  10. Beautiful young lady, very sad story. It's a shame the details are so murky because it looks now like the story, and the whys and the various misinformation and conjecture is all that's left. Such a tragedy!!

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  11. I knew skip since i was 11 or 12. He went to school with my brother Richard. I also went to school with Sharon Welch at Washington jr high. 1959 i believe. I know Skip did something to that girl. He gave me a ride when i was about 16. He was suppose to take me home. He was working that day delivering flowers. He said he had to deliver them before he took me home, which he did. After he got back into the pickup he got fresh with me. This is what we called it back in 1963. I was shocked. He had to be about 21 then. He scared me and i told him to take me home and that if he didn’t i was going to tell my brother what he did. After i found out about Theresa. I felt fortunate that i did make it home ok. I would never have thought he was capable of such a thing. You never do until something bad happens. Im truly sorry for everyone involved and that someday she will be found.

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  12. still missing my sister Teresa Ann Bier I hope that you find her body someday so she can be put to rest we know that guy that took her from her uncle's home to the forest killed my sister hopefully he's in hell cause karma got him but her body is still out there everyone forgot about all the evidence that she didn't ever get to come back cause she's not alive. dead in that forest they never really searched the forest they believed that stupid story he told about Bigfoot. He took my sister's life and has to answer to the devil on that God would never allow him in his house.. miss my sister.. love you, your baby sister Angie Bier..

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  13. Pretty sure the most logical explanation is that he murdered her and buried her in the wilderness where her body probably won't be found. Then he panics and concocts this insane story about Bigfoot running off with her, a story that almost no one except other crazies would believe.

    Maybe the same Bigfoot who took her also murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman?

    I mean, the simplest explanation, usually in these unfortunate situations, is that the person last seen with the victim is the culprit. This man more than likely tried to get some from a 16 year old and when she rebuffed his creepy 43 year old advances he attacked and killed her.

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  14. I wish I could tell you who I am, but I can't. Someday I'll sort this all out and find her body, to bring this whole nightmare to a close. One day, I'll tell the entire story. It wasn't just meth that caused all this pain, it was largely mental illness. There were many crimes, but they can't be revealed until more of the rotten people involved pass away. Unfortunately, sometimes telling the truth can get you killed.

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  15. In order to tell truth. You must first feel safe
    Thank you very much for your interesting input here.

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