Just a rubber gorilla suit in ice

PALO ALTO, California (AFP) - Supposed "Bigfoot" remains revealed last week to a skeptical public turned out to be a rubber gorilla suit in a block of ice, according to analysis posted online Wednesday.

"It's heart wrenching," Bob Schmalzbach, vice president of the group Searching for Bigfoot said in a news video clip posted at its website.

"This, we thought, was an answer to a mystery that's been going on for far too long."

Whitton and Dyer reportedly signed a deal with the group, taking an undisclosed amount of money before turning over a half-ton block of ice that they said contained Bigfoot remains they found while hiking.

Searching for Bigfoot chief executive Tom Biscardi and the men held a Friday press conference at which they announced the purported find to a crowd of skeptical reporters.

The hoax was exposed as the ice thawed during the weekend, according to Steve Kulls, executive director of Squatchdetective.com.

"As the team and I began examining this area near the feet, I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot," Kulls said in a posting online at searchingforbigfoot.com.

The existence of Bigfoot has never been proven and the creature has been the subject of decades of hoaxes and dubious sightings.

According to legend, Bigfoot -- also referred to as "Sasquatch" -- is a large elusive furred creature that walks upright and lives in remote forests in the Pacific northwest of the United States and Canada.

Along with the threat of legal action by Biscardi's group, the purported deception endangers Dyer's job as a police officer, local news media reported.