PALO ALTO, Calif. -- While Bigfoot sightings have been reported from the wilderness near Northern California’s majestic Mt. Shasta to the backwoods of Michigan, three hunters of the elusive beast announced Friday that they believe at least three have been living in a rural Georgia swamp for years.

To back up their claims, the men claimed to have a corpse of the hairy beast crammed in a Georgia freezer and will allow a group of scientists to conduct a necropsy.

Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer say they stumbled across the corpse in the woods of north Georgia, across the country from the remote regions of the Northwest where people usually claim to see the man-ape.

Whitton said the lifeless body was lying alongside a creek with a visible stomach injury. As the two were carrying the body out of the woods, they were followed by two other Bigfoots.

At a Palo Alto news conference, the men -- joined by veteran Bigfoot hunter Tom Biscardi -- said three DNA had come up inconclusive. One test said the DNA was human, another possum and a third did not reach a conclusion. They also released two photos showing the creature’s teeth and a photo allegedly showing one of the Bigfoot that followed the pair out of the woods.

Whitton and Dyer said they found Bigfoot dead near a stream after they had hiked into secluded woods for a camping trip.

"It was a pretty fresh body," said Whitton, who added that he and those who have seen the body, about eight or 10 people, have not officially determined how the creature died.

Whitton said he waited by the body for about nine hours while Dyer hiked out of the woods and retrieved his tow truck and the two then moved the body out of the area and into a freezer, where the supposed bipedal, apelike creature has remained for about 60 days.

When asked why neither man contacted local authorities or wild animal experts after their unlikely find, Whitton said, "I didn't see any need to call."

He later likened the incident to finding the world's largest diamond, in which case he said knowing exactly what to do would be difficult.

"We didn't know who to call and who to trust," Whitton said.

Whitton, who claims he and Dyer spotted three other Bigfoot creatures walking about 50 feet from them, also stressed his concern for the species and their habitat.

"They were aware of us," he said. "They didn't try to attack us or anything."

However, skeptics say it's just another Bigfoot hoax.

"What I've seen so far is not compelling in the least, and I think the pictures cast grave doubts on their claim," Jeffery Meldrum, a Bigfoot researcher and Idaho State University professor, told the Scientific American. "It just looks like a costume with some fake guys thrown on top for effect."

Meldrum said the DNA test likely won't prove anything and, at best, might yield a gene sequence that doesn't match any other known primates.

Whitton, an officer on medical leave from the Clayton County Police Department, and Dyer, a former corrections officer, announced the discovery in early July on YouTube videos and their Web site www.bigfoottracker.com. The site on Friday would not load.

The picture they sent out in a press release and on their Web site shows what appears to be a hairy corpse crammed into a chest freezer. The accompanying announcement describes the creature as a 7-foot-7 male, weighing 550 pounds with 16-inch human-like feet and reddish hair.

In August, Biscardi, head of a group called Searching for Bigfoot, joined the men.

Other Bigfoot hunters call Biscardi a huckster, a Las Vegas promoter and a scam artist looking for media attention he's gained since he began his search for Bigfoot three to four years ago. He released a photograph and announced the news conference earlier this week, drawing national attention.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Reserve spokesman Tom Mackenzie said officers also are not taking the claim seriously and will not investigate Bigfoot because it not a federal priority.

"It's not on endangered species on any list that we've got," Mackenzie said.

An anonymous letter to the agency in July said the creature is "the remains of a small gorilla or chimpanzee that may have undergone some taxidermy treatment."

Whitton, who also goes by the name Gary Parker, has been on medical leave from the Clayton County Police Department since July 3 after he was shot in the wrist. Police spokeswoman Sonja Sanchez said the department has been fielding many media inquiries because of Whitton's claims, but she doesn't know much else.

"Right now that is just what they are -- claims," Sanchez said Friday.