Paul Freeman (August 10, 1943 – April 2, 2003) was an American Bigfoot hunter who discovered alleged Bigfoot tracks showing dermal ridges. The plaster casts Freeman subsequently made were convincing enough to be considered critical pieces of evidence by anthropologists Grover Krantz and Jeff Meldrum (Idaho State University), who both put considerable time and resources into studying them.
On June 10, 1982, Freeman reportedly sighted a Bigfoot near Walla Walla, Washington which he described as being nearly 8 ft (2.4 m) tall and covered in -brown body hair. In 1994 Freeman captured a purported Bigfoot on video near the Blue Mountains region. The footage is considered to be authentic by many Bigfoot investigators and can be viewed in the documentary Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. It was also spoofed many times by Kokanee beer ads.
Some researchers, notably René Dahinden, believed Freeman may have been nothing more than a publicity-seeker. In any case, Freeman once said he spent approximately $50,000 into searching for the creature, sometimes three days a week at a time, and made only $2,000 once for a television commercial. Freeman died at his Airway Heights, Washington home at the age of 59 from complications of diabetes.