Shoes with disembodied feet that have been washing up along the B.C. coast have mystified people in the province for nearly a decade.
In the most recent discovery, a hiker found a running shoe that contained a human foot in a sock at Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew on Feb.7. This was the 11th foot found washed up on the B.C. coast since 2007.
READ MORE: Human foot found washed up on B.C. beach
On Feb. 12, a person walking on the same beach found a second running shoe and contacted authorities.
On Tuesday, the BC Coroners Service confirmed that two human feet found on the beach belonged to the same person, who has yet to be identified.
READ MORE: 2 feet that washed up on Vancouver Island beach belong to the same person
The shoes involved are men’s New Balance runners, size 12 and blue and black. This type of shoe was first sold in North America in March, 2013, which suggest the shoes’ owner died at some point between March, 2013 and December, 2015.
The coroner says after examining the feet, it appears both disarticulated naturally from the rest of the body due to prolonged immersion in water. There is no indication of trauma or of mechanical severance of the feet.
Twelve feet have washed up along the B.C. coastline since 2007.
While the discoveries have puzzled investigators and the general public since 2007, Coroner Barb McLintock says there is no myth to squelch.
McLintock says there are neither “strange serial killers” conducting amputations, nor “funny little aliens” depositing appendages along B.C. shores.
“Which some people do think. Sad but true,” she said on Wednesday. “A lot of this is simply the quelling of the public imagination, to say ‘No, this is unfortunate and they’re all very sad cases.’”
McLintock said the coroner has tried to educate the public that the feet separated naturally in the process of decomposition — and nothing nefarious has been going on.
The BC Coroners Service has been able to identify eight of the washed up feet, belonging to six individuals. In none of the cases was any foul play involved. Experts have determined cause of death to either be suicide or accident.
THE TIMELINE OF THE DISCOVERIES:
August 2007: Foot #1 – A right foot was found on Jedediah Island. DNA analysis linked this foot to a male that went missing in 2004.
August 2007: Foot #2 – A right foot was found on Gabriola Island. DNA analysis linked this foot to a male that went missing in 2006.
February 2008: Foot #3 – A right foot was found on Gabriola Island. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #5 and a male that went missing in 2006.
May 2008: Foot #4 – A right foot was found in the Fraser River near Richmond. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #6 and a female that went missing in 2004.
June 2008: Foot #5 – A left foot was found in the Fraser River. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #3 and a male that went missing in 2006.
November 2008: Foot #6 – A left foot was found near Kirkland Island. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #4 and a female that went missing in 2004.
October 2009: Foot #7 – A right foot was found in the Fraser River near Richmond. DNA analysis linked this foot to a male that went missing in 2008.
August 2011: Foot #8 – A left foot was found in False Creek, Vancouver. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #10 and an unidentified male.
November 2011: Foot #9 – A right boot was found in Sasamat Lake, Port Moody. DNA analysis linked this foot to a male that went missing in 1985.
October 2012: Foot #10 – A right foot was found in False Creek, Vancouver. DNA analysis linked this foot to foot #8 and an unidentified male.
February 2016: Foot #11 – A left foot was found on Botanical Beach. Anthropological and circumstantial analysis linked this foot to foot #12.
February 2016: Foot #12 – A right foot was found on Botanical Beach. Anthropological and circumstantial analysis linked this foot to foot #11.
COURTESY: BC Coroners Service
With files from Amy Judd and the Canadian Press
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