Washington, August 20: The discovery of the body of the mythical ‘Bigfoot’ in the US has been declared to be a fake by an independent investigator, who has determined that it is nothing but a Halloween costume.

According to a report by Fox News, the hoax came into being after two Georgia residents, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, recently claimed that they had discovered the frozen corpse of a Bigfoot.

But, Tom Biscardi, owner of the website www. searchingforbigfoot. com, decided to get under the skin of things, and hired a self-described “Sasquatch detective” Steve Kulls to solve the mystery.

He sent Kulls to a secret location — apparently Muncie, Indiana — to check out the specimen. But, what Kulls found at the location failed to impress him, and after elaborate analysis, he declared the body to be a fake.

“I extracted some (hair) from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns,” said Kulls. “We burned said sample and said hair sample melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair,” he added.

Kulls then 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. I was able to feel that it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section. This was yet another ominous sign,” said Kulls.

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,” revealed Kulls.

Jerry Parrino, owner of Internet Halloween-costume retailer www. TheHorrorDome. com, told Fox News that, “It definitely looks like our (Sasquatch) costume,” after viewing photos of the body.

Biscardi immediately called up Whitton and Dyer at their California hotel. They admitted it was a hoax and agreed to sign a promissory note at a meeting during the morning at their 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 wrote 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,” he added. (ANI)