The search for Bigfoot, the mythical half-man/half-gorilla beast also known as Sasquatch, may have ended in Georgia.

Or it could just be a hoax that has landed a Clayton County cop in hot water with his boss.

According to a press release issued by "Searching For Bigfoot," a California-based Web site, two men have not only found the corpse of a 7-foot-7, 500-plus pound man-monkey, but they've also found a tribe of his brethren living at an undisclosed location in the North Georgia mountains.

The men are to appear at a press conference in California with "DNA evidence and photo evidence" on Friday.

One of the supposed discoverers is Matthew Whitton, a Clayton County police officer for the past six years. He's been on medical leave since being shot in the wrist July 3 while pursuing a suspect in a Krystal robbery.

Whitton, along with fellow big-game hunter Rick Dyer, a former correctional officer, are co-owners of bigfoottracker.com and Bigfoot Global LLC., a company that offers "Bigfoot expeditions." The men are working with another Bigfoot hunter, Tom Biscardi, and Biscardi's Searching for Bigfoot, Inc., according to the press release.

Clayton police chief Jeff Turner said Wednesday that Whitton has permission to run his part-time Bigfoot tracking business on the side.

"As long as his part-time business doesn't affect his work ethic, that's his own personal business," Turner said.

But Turner said he has been inundated with e-mails and calls from media and the public since word got out that Whitton and Dyer claim to have a Bigfoot corpse. Some doubters suggest photos of said corpse look suspiciously like Bigfoot suits for sale on the internet.

"His claims of finding Bigfoot is entirely a different matter," Turner said. "Unfortunately, that's spilling over into his police life and that's where we have concerns. When he comes back from medical leave, we'll have to sit down and address those issues."

— Kathy Jefcoats and wire services