Melba's returns, many of them, came back human. As did most other samples that have been submitted. Also, though most of the samples had clear chain of evidence, they weren't all properly collected. I refuse to jump on the 'Let's destroy Melba' bandwagon- she did what she could with the samples and equipment that she had, and, frankly, she did really well. Unfortunately, the project wasn't gone about in the ways that could be relied on with scientific certainty.
And I have come to believe that, yes, there is a conspiracy to discredit credible bigfoot evidence. I tried hard not to believe it for a long time, but the more I see and experience, the harder it is not to believe it. Part of what I see in the discrediting is from reputable researchers who have staked their entire reputations on Bigfoot being one thing or another, so any evidence that disagrees with their views is immediately attacked and discredited. They usually have bands of internet skeptic hounds ready to tear apart anything that looks like evidence. It's like watching the anti-vaxxers attack scientists and doctors who develop and defend vaccines.
As to the is-it-human debate, from Native American stories, we know that the Omah stole women to breed with, and some of those women were able to return to the tribes with their children. That tells me that we're not dealing with another species, just a different humanoid. (Why haven't bones of apes been found? Because they aren't apes.) DNA from multiple sources, from multiple groups, and from multiple regions across the US, tested by different labs, comes back human. Sadly, DNA testing is expensive, and there aren't a lot of follow ups or more intensive testings done. That time is coming, I think, as DNA testing becomes more affordable to small indie research groups. I'd like to see DNA submitted to places like AncestryDNA and 32aneMe to see what they come up with.
One thing I'd also really like to see is for Bigfoot scat samples to be submitted to the Human Microbiome Project. Every summer, researchers come in with multiple samples. The Microbiome Project would be an interesting and affordable way to determine how different the diets represented in the samples are. I have to assume that the gut biome of someone living off road kill, trout, and blackberries has to be very different from someone who lives off of McDonalds and Starbucks.