CHAMPION, Ohio (WKBN) – The hunt for Bigfoot has come to Champion Township. A 4-foot statue was removed Tuesday from Champion Township Cemetery.
The statue was placed next to the grave of Trevor Zuniga, 23, of Bristoville. According to an online tribute, Zuniga died January 28 due to complications from Muscular Dystrophy.
Trevor’s uncle bought the statue because his nephew was fond of the Big Foot myth. Trevor’s mother Kathy Zuniga said she understands that Bigfoot is just a statue but it brought her comfort.
“It is something that we know as Trevor. It is something that he really liked, the family knew he liked. We all associated him with Trevor,” Zuniga said. “He was somebody who was there, and I could come and talk to and I could touch him. He was somebody who was there with Trevor.”
Champion Township Sexton Chris Connelly said the township contacted the family and asked them to remove the statue. When it was still standing three weeks later, the township moved the statue to an area behind a utility garage.
“There were a lot of complaints, but it was removed because there wasn’t a footer,” Connelly said.
The complaints came from a family who has a grave near Bigfoot and didn’t like the backside of the statue facing the gravesite of their loved one. The Zuniga family offered to make a loincloth to wrap around the statue, but ultimately Champion Township trustees will decide if Bigfoot stays.
Trevor’s family acknowledges the rules that a footer and headstone need to go along with the Bigfoot statue, and they were working to fund them.