So it really was a rubber suit.

The excitement over a supposed Bigfoot body that built all last week, culminating Friday in a circus-like press conference in Palo Alto, Calif., collapsed like a wet soufflé over the weekend as an independent investigator found out it was all fake.

SearchingforBigfoot.com owner Tom Biscardi paid an "undisclosed sum" to Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, the two Georgia men who say they found the body, for their frozen corpse and the privilege of trotting them out in front of TV cameras.

At the same time, Biscardi sent self-described "Sasquatch detective" Steve Kulls back to Georgia to check out the body.

Kulls, it's safe to say, was severely disappointed.

The upshot? The real Bigfoot, once found, is now missing. So are Whitton, Dyer and Biscardi's money.

In a long statement on SearchingforBigfoot.com, Kulls reveals what he found early Sunday morning Eastern time as the body thawed out.

"I extracted some [hair] from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns," Kulls writes. "We burned said sample and said hair sample melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair."

Kulls called Biscardi in California, who told him to heat the body to speed up thawing.

"Within one hour we were able to see the partially exposed head," Kulls continues. "I was able to feel that it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section. This was yet another ominous sign."

Then came the clincher.

"Within the next hour of thaw, a break appeared up near the feet area. ... I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot."

That jibes with what Jerry Parrino, owner of Internet Halloween-costume retailer TheHorrorDome.com, told FOXNews.com last week.

"It definitely looks like our [Sasquatch] costume," Parrino said after viewing photos of the body.

The Biscardi team immediately went into crisis mode. Biscardi called Whitton and Dyer at their California hotel. They admitted it was a hoax and agreed to sign a promissory note at a meeting set for 8 a.m. Pacific time at the hotel.

But when Biscardi got there, he "found that they had left."

"At this time action is being instigated against the perpetrators of this fraud," Kulls writes on Biscardi's Web site. "On behalf of myself I can say with certainty Matthew Whitton and Ricky Dyer [are] not the best Bigfoot trackers in the world!"

well I knew the whole thing was fake from the get-go I mean...some people will do anything yo!

From just the stand point of where and how it was reportedly found, put it in serious question.
Bigfoot are not often reported in Georgia and since a bigfoot body is yet to be found, it is my assumption that they dispose of their dead.
Apoint also to note...there are far more bears in population than Bigfoot, when was the last time a bears body was found dead in the forest?
If a bigfoot body were to be discovered, it would most likely be so in an area with lots of reports like the areas in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, North California, Washington, Canada.
If proving their existance is such important there are many ways to trap and tranqualize one.
If I had the money and time I could almost guarantee I could catch one!!
Nobody as yet has made a serious enough effort to do so.

Fully agree with you there Soul Drifter, a serious attempt to capture a big foot, not wanting profit or gain, just to prove that it does exist. That would be good, but everyone seems in it for the money, or fame as the guy who caught Sasquatch. Like I said the other day, it annoys me when people fake things like this, it gives cryptozoology a more tarnished name than it already has.

Sooner or later, someone is either gonna find a Bigfoot carcass or kill one. It's just a matter of time and the clock is ticking.

This is why I hate hoaxers so much. It makes the truth that much harder to find. The one time it will be for real will be just another time the boy cried 'wolf!'

hoaxers should be shot. an open season.

these guys must be real idiots. i mean, they had to know they would be found out. hello, DNA?

the only rational reason for doing something like this is for pay. or maybe they want to be remembered as clowns.

how much does it take to sell out your credibility? i guess some folks just don't care.

even as a joke it wouldn't be worth it. its just not that funny... unless you consider the poor fools that bought it hook, line, & sinker.

maybe it is a bit humorous seeing as how far they ran with it.

No, they just should be not allowed to mate.

.....then shot.

What gets my ass about this is.... This is a serious subject and alot of people were hoping we finally had proof of bigfoot. I just dont understand why some people feel the need to make hoaxes and belittle the search and data by doing such childish pranks. Makes every one who really believes in bigfoot looks foolish.
I still believe its out there and hope one day we will really have the proof that is needed.

cricket, that too is up for debate in the scientific community.