Jeffrey Meldrum obit

Dr. Jeff Meldrum, noted Bigfoot researcher and Idaho State professor, dies at 67

 He was not on the list.

In the field of Bigfoot research — and cryptozoology as a whole — few matched the academic grounding and scientific acumen of Dr. Don Jeffrey Meldrum. A full professor of anatomy and anthropology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University, Meldrum was regarded as an authority on primate locomotion and foot morphology.

Meldrum’s fascination with the subject began at age 11, when he saw the famous Patterson-Gimlin film. But it wasn’t until he joined Idaho State University, near the heart of Bigfoot country in the Pacific Northwest, that he pursued the topic in earnest. Discovering a set of large, unexplained footprints in southeastern Washington in 1996 cemented his interest.

A frequent guest on television programs such as Finding Bigfoot, MonsterQuest and Is It Real, Meldrum may be best known for his book Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. Though met with skepticism in some scientific circles, the book brought uncommon rigour and anthropological insight to a field often dismissed as fringe.

“He does bring more scientific rigour to this question than anyone else in the past, and he does do state-of-the-art footprint analysis,” Dr. David R. Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto, told Scientific American in 2007.

For many followers of the Bigfoot phenomenon — especially those who balanced curiosity with skepticism — Meldrum offered hope. If a large, elusive primate, known mainly from footprints and grainy footage, roamed the Pacific Northwest, who better to find the truth than a scholar of primate locomotion?

Meldrum died September 10 at 67 after a short battle with brain cancer.

e was a full professor of Anatomy and Anthropology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University. He was also adjunct professor in the Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy and the Department of Anthropology. He was an expert on foot morphology and locomotion in primates.

Actor

Paul Logan in Skookum: The Hunt for Bigfoot (2016)

Skookum: The Hunt for Bigfoot

4.9

Dr. Jeff Cameron (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2016

 

Producer

Paul Logan in Skookum: The Hunt for Bigfoot (2016)

Skookum: The Hunt for Bigfoot

4.9

associate producer

2016

 

Additional Crew

The Proof is Out There (2021)

The Proof is Out There

6.6

TV Series

footage provided byarchival material (as Jeff Meldrum)

2022–2023

2 episodes

 

The Proof Is Out There: Skinwalker Edition

7.7

TV Series

archival material provided by (as Jeff Meldrum)

2022

2 episodes

 

America's Book of Secrets (2012)

America's Book of Secrets

6.7

TV Series

images courtesy of (as Jeff Meldrum)

2013

1 episode

 

Thanks

Expedition Bigfoot (2019)

Expedition Bigfoot

6.2

TV Series

special thanks

2021

2 episodes

 

Naysa Altmeyer and Alexa Mechling in A Wish for Giants (2018)

A Wish for Giants

5.5

thanks

2018

 

Bigfoot: The Evidence Files (2014)

Bigfoot: The Evidence Files

3.6

special thanks (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2014

 

Monsterquest (2007)

Monsterquest

7.1

TV Series

special thanks (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2008

1 episode

 

Self

Mythical Legends: My Bigfoot Life

Self

Completed TV Movie

 

Gary from Omaha

Self

Post-production

 

The Legend of Grassman

Self

Post-production

 

The Proof is Out There (2021)

The Proof is Out There

6.6

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2021–2025

25 episodes

 

The Proof Is Out There: UnXplained Edition

6.1

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2025

1 episode

 

Squatchers: The People Who Believe in Bigfoot (2025)

Squatchers: The People Who Believe in Bigfoot

Self

2025

 

Ancient Aliens (2009)

Ancient Aliens

7.0

TV Series

Self - Prof. of Anatomy & Anthropology, Idaho State UniversitySelf - Prof., Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State University

2012–2024

2 episodes

 

Mythical Legends Podcast (2023)

Mythical Legends Podcast

Podcast Series

Self

2023

1 episode

 

Laurence Fishburne in History's Greatest Mysteries (2020)

History's Greatest Mysteries

7.0

TV Series

Self

2023

1 episode

 

The Proof Is Out There: Skinwalker Edition

7.7

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2022

1 episode

 

Bald and Bonkers (2021)

Bald and Bonkers

8.9

TV Series

Self

2022

1 episode

 

Contact by Bald and Bonkers (2022)

Contact by Bald and Bonkers

TV Series

Self - Dr. Jeff Meldrum

2022

1 episode

 

Strange Phenomenon (2020)

Strange Phenomenon

Podcast Series

Self

2021

1 episode

 

Expedition Bigfoot (2019)

Expedition Bigfoot

6.2

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology, Idaho State University

2021

2 episodes

 

Sasquatch (2021)

Sasquatch

6.3

TV Mini Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology (as Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum)

2021

1 episode

 

Bigfoot I Saw It (2021)

Bigfoot I Saw It

6.2

TV Special

Self (as Jeff Meldrun)

2021

 

William Shatner in The UnXplained (2019)

The UnXplained

7.3

TV Series

Self - Prof. of Anatomy & Anthropology, ISU (as Jeffrey Meldrum Ph.D.)

2021

1 episode

 

Paranormal Declassified (2020)

Paranormal Declassified

6.0

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, Ohio State University (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2021

1 episode

 

Jeffrey Meldrum, Alessandro Saini, and Darcy Weir in Sasquatch Among Wildmen (2020)

Sasquatch Among Wildmen

6.6

Self

2020

 

The Pet Show with Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Jellinek (2020)

The Pet Show with Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Jellinek

3.0

TV Series

Self (as Jeff Meldrun)

2020

1 episode

 

Travis Walton, Jaime Maussan, Stephen Bassett, and Jeffrey Meldrum in Occult Journeys (2020)

Occult Journeys

TV Series

(as Jeff Meldrum)

2020

 

Jaime Maussan, David Sereda, and Stephen Bassett in Beyond the Spectrum - Director's Cut (2020)

Beyond the Spectrum - Director's Cut

TV Series

Self

2020

1 episode

 

Jaime Maussan in Maussan's UFO Files (2019)

Maussan's UFO Files

5.6

(as Jeff Meldrum)

2019

 

In Search of Monsters (2019)

In Search of Monsters

6.8

TV Series

Self - Professor

2019

2 episodes

 

Sasquatch Hunters (2018)

Sasquatch Hunters

4.5

Video

Self (as Jeff Meldrum)

2018

 

Cultured Bigfoot (2018)

Cultured Bigfoot

6.0

Self

2018

 

Discovering Bigfoot (2017)

Discovering Bigfoot

3.9

Video

Self

2017

 

Epic Mysteries: Bigfoot (2016)

Epic Mysteries: Bigfoot

6.8

TV Movie

Self (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2016

 

The Missing Evidence (2014)

The Missing Evidence

7.0

TV Series

Jeff Meldrum

2014

1 episode

 

Finding Bigfoot (2011)

Finding Bigfoot

4.1

TV Series

Self

2014

1 episode

 

The Unexplained Files (2013)

The Unexplained Files

7.1

TV Series

Self - AnthropologistSelf - Professor of Anthropology, Idaho State University

2014

3 episodes

 

American Sasquatch Hunters: Bigfoot in America (2013)

American Sasquatch Hunters: Bigfoot in America

4.0

(as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2013

 

Joe Rogan in Joe Rogan Questions Everything (2013)

Joe Rogan Questions Everything

6.7

TV Series

Self - Anthropologist, Idaho State University (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2013

1 episode

 

America's Book of Secrets (2012)

America's Book of Secrets

6.7

TV Series

Self - Prof., Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State University (as Jeff Meldrum Ph.D.)

2013

1 episode

 

Unsealed: Conspiracy Files (2012)

Unsealed: Conspiracy Files

5.9

TV Series

Self - Idaho State University

2012

1 episode

 

Expedition Week (2011)

Expedition Week

6.2

TV Series

Self - Researcher, Idaho State University (as Dr. Jeff Meldrum)

2011

1 episode

 

Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide (2011)

Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide

6.9

TV Movie

Self

2011

 

Beast Legends (2010)

Beast Legends

4.7

TV Series

Self - Anatomist, Idaho State University

2010

1 episode

 

American Paranormal

4.1

TV Series

Self - Investigator

2010

1 episode

 

Monsterquest (2007)

Monsterquest

7.1

TV Series

Self - Professor of Anatomy and AnthropologySelf - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State UniversitySelf - Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology ...

2007–2010

7 episodes

 

Cryptid Hunt (2008)

Cryptid Hunt

Video

Self - Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology, Idaho State University

2008

 

Destination Truth (2007)

Destination Truth

7.6

TV Series

Self - Bigfoot Expert

2007–2008

2 episodes

 

Best Evidence (2007)

Best Evidence

5.4

TV Series

Self - Associate Professor of Anatomy, Idaho State University (as Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum)

2007

1 episode

 

Is It Real? (2005)

Is It Real?

7.1

TV Series

Self - Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology

2005

1 episode

 

Mysterious Encounters (2004)

Mysterious Encounters

8.3

TV Series

Self

2004

 

Unexplained Mysteries (2003)

Unexplained Mysteries

7.2

TV Series

Self

2004

1 episode

 

World of Mysteries (2002)

World of Mysteries

6.7

TV Series

Self - Interviewed

2003

1 episode

 

Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science (2003)

Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

8.2

TV Movie

Self

2003

 

In Search of (2002)

In Search of

7.1

TV Series

Self - Associate Professor of Anatomy

2002

1 episode

 

History's Mysteries (1998)

History's Mysteries

7.9

TV Series

Self

2000

1 episode

 

The World's Greatest Hoaxes: Secrets Finally Revealed (1998)

The World's Greatest Hoaxes: Secrets Finally Revealed

6.3

TV Movie

Self - Primatologist (as Jeff Meldrum)

1998

 

Archive Footage

Expedition Files (2024)

Expedition Files

7.3

TV Series

Self (archive footage, as Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum)

2024

1 episode