Jeffrey Meldrum

Don Jeffrey Meldrum (24 May 1958 – 9 September 2025) He received his B.S. in zoology specializing in vertebrate locomotion at Brigham Young University in 1982, and his M.S. at BYU in 1984. In 1989, he completed a Ph.D. at Stony Brook University in anatomical sciences, with an emphasis in biological anthropology, with John G. Fleagle as his doctoral advisor. He held the position of postdoctoral visiting assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center from 1989 to 1991. Meldrum worked at Northwestern University's Department of Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology for a short while in 1993 before joining the faculty of Idaho State University where he taught until his death.

Meldrum published numerous academic papers ranging from vertebrate evolutionary morphology, the emergence of bipedal locomotion in modern humans, and the plausibility behind the Sasquatch phenomena, in addition to being a co-editor of a series of books on paleontology. Meldrum also co-edited From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking with Charles E. Hilton.

Meldrum, who was an "active member" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also studied and commented upon issues of genetics and the Book of Mormon in his book Who Are the Children of Lehi?, written with Trent D. Stephens.

Meldrum died in Pocatello, Idaho, after a brief battle with brain cancer, at the age of 67, in 2025. His date of death is reported variously as 9 September

Cryptozoology Meldrum attracted media attention due to his interest in Bigfoot. Meldrum believed that Bigfoot exists, and his research on the topic has been criticized by some as pseudoscientific. Meldrum authored Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science in 2006. The book was heavily criticized in a detailed review in the Skeptical Inquirer.

Meldrum was present at a 2011 conference in Siberia regarding the Siberian Snowman, which included investigating alleged footprints that had been spotted in a Kemerovo cave. He acknowledged that the results of the Russian field trip to the cave site were most likely fraudulent. He suggested that the supposed evidence found was simply an attempt by local government officials to drum up publicity.

Meldrum was interviewed by director Marq Evans for the 2026 documentary film, Capturing Bigfoot, for his expertise on the famed Patterson-Gimlin film, which depicts an unknown subject, claimed by the filmmakers to be a Bigfoot, walking through a wooded area.