Meet Our Research Team

Core Team Member & Founder

Marie Dumont is a Florida native and a seasoned Bigfoot field researcher with over three decades of paranormal and cryptid investigation research experience. She founded the ‘Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Group’, a community-driven research organization with more than 12,000 members across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, dedicated to investigating Florida's Bigfoot and it's mysterious cousin, the Skunk Ape. Her group serves as a resource hub for Florida witnesses and researchers to report encounters confidentially and collaboratively.

Marie is also the founder of the 'Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Team'. Through her team, she's building a structured, credible effort to investigate, protect, and understand these enigmatic creatures and their threatened habitats.

Marie is a dedicated, analytical, and detail-oriented investigator. Her passion for Bigfoot research was sparked more than seven years ago after hearing a powerful and extended vocalization deep in the Ocala National Forest during an overnight camping trip. Since then, she has committed herself to exploring Florida’s forests and swamps in search of answers. Her passion for uncovering the truth has made her one of Florida's foremost researchers of Bigfoots and Skunk Apes.

Marie is known for her sharp observational skills and creativity in the field. Her fieldwork specialty includes finding prints, structures, and unusual elements in the woods and swamps. Marie and her team have documented countless footprints, glyphs, and a wide range of unusual structural formations including X-shaped markers, asterisk patterns, weavings, lean-tos, teepee-like designs, shelters, nests, and oddly placed or stacked sticks in an effort to collect evidence of their existence. One of her most significant discoveries—a quarter-mile-long trackway of 16-inch footprints with a 54-inch stride—was featured as the cover story in the March 2024 edition of the 'Bigfoot Times' newsletter.

Marie's natural creativity and artistic eye give her a unique advantage in spotting what doesn’t belong in the wild. Beyond field research, she also manages all aspects of the team’s public relations which includes research documentation, website, social media, presentations, event planning, conferences, podcasts, meetings, video content, campout events, and research outings.

Core Team Member

Bob Schmeltz has a deep connection with the great outdoors. Hunting, fishing, and trapping were traditions that were passed down through generations, and some of his favorite memories are of early fall mornings trekking through the woods alongside his father or uncles. These early experiences nurtured not only his love of nature, but also a lifelong respect for it.

Becoming a hunter at a young age helped Bob to form a strong bond with the natural world. He was raised to be a conservationist—taught to harvest only what was needed and to always leave the woods just as he found them. That respect for wildlife and the wilderness has remained a guiding principle in his life.

As an adult, the woods have continued to be a place of peace, clarity, and renewal for Bob. In today’s fast-paced world, those quiet moments in nature help him to reset and recharge.

Bob’s passion for the outdoors also led him into an unexpected and fascinating path—Bigfoot and Skunk Ape research. Combining his tracking skills, deep knowledge of wildlife and nature, and countless hours hiking in Florida’s remote forests and swamps, Bob has become a valuable asset to the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Team for his dedication to uncovering the truth behind one of North America's greatest legends.

Bob’s field work specialty is technology, research equipment, and discovering new ways to capture physical evidence of these elusive creatures.

Core Team Member

Ruby Jo Brew is a proud fifth-generation native Floridian, born in Tampa. A lifelong explorer of Florida’s woods and swamps, she has spent the past six years actively researching and seeking evidence of elusive forest beings. Through her investigations and the review of countless eyewitness accounts, Ruby Jo came to realize that her own life has been marked by encounters she hadn’t fully understood until now.

Her fieldwork specialty lies in identifying structures, tree breaks, and unusual natural oddities—both subtle and striking. With extensive knowledge of Florida’s native plants and wildlife, she brings a deep understanding of the ecosystems where these beings are most often reported. Ruby Jo is passionate about the paranormal and educating others on the presence of these yet-to-be-recognized creatures that inhabit our forests and swamps.

Outside of research, Ruby Jo is a devoted mother to a daughter and two sons, and a proud grandmother to six grandsons, two granddaughters, and a number of beloved four-legged “grands.” She also serves on the Board of Directors at the Crowley Museum and Nature Center in Myakka, Florida, where she continues to share her love of nature and discovery.

Core Team Member

Hal Ryman has been following the topic of Bigfoot/Sasquatch and over the last five years, the Skunk Ape. Like so many others, his interest in the phenomenon that a bipedal relic hominid lives in the swamps and forests of Florida and across the world, as well as in other remote areas was launched back in 1968 after the public advent of the film shot by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin showing a female Sasquatch, now affectionally referred to as “Patty”. Hal believes that the PGF is one of the most important pieces of evidence that supports Bigfoot’s existence.

Over the last 12 years, Hal consulted and became friends with the distinguished Dr. Donald “Jeff” Meldrum who was an anthropologist and anatomist from Idaho State University (ISU). He got to know Jeff and his wife Laurie and visited Jeff’s lab at ISU in August of 2021.

Having lived in several states where there has been Sasquatch activity, he had limited time amid his demanding career to do field research, however he has studied volumes of written material and spent countless hours reviewing documentaries of research team activities in North America (i.e., the U.S. and Canada).

As a core member of the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Team, Hal brings to the team a of wealth of knowledge surrounding the history of Bigfoot field research as well as laboratory evidence analysis. Additionally, he offers significant technical support skills to enhance and increase efficiency and results from the rest of the team in the field. This includes designing and prototyping specialized airborne devices such as drones and other flying vehicles equipped with advanced image and audio capture capability. Another area of his interest is in studying further the phenomena that has occurred regarding the use of infrared imaging in trail cameras to capture video. Even in areas with a significant number of eyewitness sightings, there is much evidence to support the idea that the Bigfoot creature can see much higher frequency light, thus allowing it to avoid being recorded. His work on the team will include an analysis to prove or disprove this hypothesis. This is an area of controversy where many field researchers have failed to come up with answers.

Hal ‘s specialty is professional videography acquisition, editing, and analysis of audio evidence to support the team.

Hal holds three college degrees: a BS and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in the French language. In his 40 year professional career, Hal has received awards from major corporations such as Chevron, MITRE, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Virginia and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for his accomplishments such as the Worldwide Refugee Admission Processing System design and prototype for the U.S. Department of State, creating a structure and template for reference Enterprise Architectures (EA) for the U.S. Army that became the standard for the entire Department of Defense (DoD).

Associate Team Member

Dr. Bill Hewitt comes from the great north but spent a great deal of his life in Florida as a hiker, camper, boater, and underwater photographer. In his earlier days, holding a 100-ton captains license, he used to deliver yachts from the Great Lakes area to Florida and the Caribbean.   He has had a lifetime of interest in Bigfoot and started researching Bigfoot and other cryptids as a teenager.   He was also interested in the paranormal and other unexplained phenomena.  

Bill moved to Florida 15 years ago full time with Bettina Laier and started researching cryptid animals and other wildlife. He became a serious researcher 12 years ago and began designing general research equipment to help them the field. Wanting to improve his research skills and knowledge, he decided to pursue an education in Cryptozoology and earned his doctoral degree.

Bill loves building and creating new field research equipment.  He converted a cargo van to become living quarters and basecamp when researching out in the field.  He has also designed parabolic sound dishes and mounting devices to travel at night with IR and thermal imaging cameras.

When he is not out researching, he lives in Miami with Bettina and their two cats that often go camping with them.  He is a proud father of a son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters.   Having had two significant encounters in his past, his greatest ambition is to interact with these creatures on a more personal level.  

Bill's primary Bigfoot research team is the ISRT, but he is also a proud member of the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Team.

Associate Team Member

Bettina Laier is a nurse by trade but spends her free time outdoors gardening, hiking and camping with Dr Bill Hewitt and their two cats. She is a certified emergency nurse and has a Master's Degree in Nursing education. She works as an educator for a large healthcare organization and loves teaching others.

Bettina also likes to spend time photographing wildlife and has won awards for her underwater photography. Before moving to Florida, she travelled to places like Fiji, Christmas Island in the South Pacific, and all over the Caribbean.

Bettina Laier has been researching Bigfoot and other phenomena for about 12 years. With spending 100's of hours in the field, she has had two audio encounters. These Class B encounters motivated her to get more involved, putting in countless miles on the trails and investigating sites during the night. Her interests include thermal imaging and night vision and with keen senses, has pointed out interesting finds to others out with her on the trails.

Bettina not only goes out on the trails, she also is involved with running the Base Camp. She is a general ham radio operator and acts as the Base Camp radio coms person. She also keeps all the equipment organized and findings catalogued.

Bettina's primary Bigfoot research team is the ISRT, but she is also a proud member of the Mid Florida Bigfoot Research Team.