Dale Pruitt of Otero County has filed legal documentation asking a confirmed skinwalker to please, professionally, pick somebody else.

OTERO COUNTY, NEW MEXICO — A rancher in Otero County has submitted a formal written request through his attorney asking a confirmed on-premises skinwalker to stop using his face. Specifically his face. Dale Pruitt, 54, owner and operator of the Pruitt family cattle operation since 2001, filed the request following a verified sighting Thursday evening in which the entity was observed near the east fence adopting what eight separate witnesses — ranch hands, one visiting veterinarian, and Pruitt’s cousin Raymond, who Pruitt describes as ‘not someone who makes things up’ — confirmed was his exact posture and his exact gait, moving in a direction Pruitt himself had not been moving. He was, at the time of the sighting, in his kitchen. This has been corroborated.

The Request and Its Terms

The filing, submitted Monday morning through Pruitt’s attorney, Elena Voss of the Alamogordo firm Voss and Kellerman, is described internally as a formal notice of objection. It requests that the entity select a different physical form from what the document calls ‘the available population,’ and suggests this population is, by any reasonable measure, large. The filing does not demand the entity leave the property. Pruitt told WTC in a phone interview that he considered that request and decided against it on the grounds that whatever it is, it was probably there before he was, and he is not looking to escalate. He used the word escalate twice. I noted this.

Community Notice

I’m not saying it can’t be here. I’m saying it cannot be me while it’s here. Those are two different things and I need that distinction respected.

— Dale Pruitt, Ranch Owner, Otero County

Phenomenon of this classification has documented precedent in the region. The Navajo Skinwalker, as catalogued in WTC’s entity registry and in considerably older sources that predate this network by several centuries, is known for precisely this behavior — the adoption of specific human forms, often selected from individuals in the immediate environment. What is less documented, and what I will admit I had to sit with for a moment before continuing this script, is the submission of a legal counter-filing. Voss confirmed to WTC that her office has handled unusual cases before. She did not elaborate on what that meant. I appreciated that.

What Witnesses Saw, and What They Are Doing About It

It walked like Dale. It stood like Dale. It had his shoulders. I’ve known Dale eleven years and I knew immediately it was not Dale and I cannot tell you how I knew that and I would like to stop being asked.

— Marcus Oñate, Ranch Hand, Pruitt Operation — via written statement

The veterinarian present at the time of the sighting, Dr. Celeste Huang, was on the property for a routine visit and is described by Pruitt as ‘a thorough professional who I feel bad about.’ She has submitted her own account to Otero County Sheriff’s Office, which accepted it, logged it, and has reportedly not followed up, a response Pruitt describes as ‘about what I expected.’ Raymond, the cousin, has declined all press contact but left a voicemail for Pruitt that Pruitt read to me over the phone, which I will paraphrase: Raymond thinks this is going to resolve itself and also wants to know if Pruitt still has his socket set. The socket set question appears unrelated. I included it because it felt accurate to how these things go.

Attorney Voss confirmed to WTC that the question of how to serve the notice is, legally speaking, uncharted. She used the phrase ‘uncharted’ with the measured steadiness of someone who went to law school and was not warned that law school would eventually lead here. I have been doing this since 2009. I understand the feeling. The filing has been submitted to the county courthouse as a matter of public record, which means it exists, which Voss says is a start. Pruitt says he left a copy in a tin by the east fence, weighted down with a rock. He is not certain this is sufficient. He did it anyway. I find I don’t have much to add to that. WTC will continue coverage as this develops. The radio on my desk has been running about two pitches higher than usual since I started writing this script, which I am logging as a note and nothing more.