VICTORIA – An investigation by British Columbia’s coroner into the latest incident of a running shoe with a human foot washing ashore is now focused on a specific period of time.
The coroner says in a news release that the runner was first sold in North America three years ago, indicating the person died between March 2013 and December 2015.
A preliminary exam shows the foot would have naturally separated from the body after a prolonged period in the water, allowing the running shoe to float to where it was found near Port Renfrew, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on Feb. 7.
Coroner Matt Brown says officials will continue to try to identify the person, but the final confirmation would have to come from DNA testing.
The foot is the 13th to wash up on B.C.’s coastline since 2007 and 10 of those feet have been identified as belong to seven people.
The coroner says that in all of the cases where feet have been identified either accident or suicide was involved.