What we see and what there is often at variance and a couple of sightings with thermal equipment in the noughties is not conclusive, they though they saw a big cat but “thought. Random footprints are equally subjective, a couple of million dogs plus wildlife making footprints daily, just through random chance some will look like a big cat.
Now a roadkill, confirmed to be a big cat and taken for examination, or a litter of kits found by people and taken to a wildlife rescue or a good phone video of a cat protecting its cubs or a wildlife camera recording or even a decent bit of CCTV video