News

Police are one step closer to solving the puzzle of the washed-up, severed feet.

Forensic investigators have now connected one of the five feet found at scattered locations along the B.C. coast to a specific individual, RCMP spokesman Corp. Pierre LeMaitre confirmed yesterday.

The officer told CTV News that the foot belonged to a depressed man who has been missing. Police have ruled out foul play, he added.

The identification came just a week after police publicized photos of the sneakers that contained the five severed feet, all found within a 10-month period, in a mystery that has attracted world-wide interest and media coverage.

Corp. LeMaitre said the identification was made through matching “familial DNA”, and family members of the victim are being contacted. The identity of the dead man is being withheld.

Meanwhile, in yet another bizarre development in the intriguing case, a coroner on the picturesque San Juan Islands in the Strait of Georgia disclosed that a footless body was discovered 16 months ago on the eastern shores Orcas Island, the most northern of the American island chain.

But despite the torrent of publicity over the five severed feet in recent weeks, coroner Randall Gaylord said that he did not advise British Columbia investigators about the discovery until Thursday.

“I certainly could have made an inquiry sooner. No question about that,” said Mr. Gaylord, “but I never knew enough about the missing feet, what size or type of shoe they were in, or whether they were men or women.

“And who do you contact, and what are you going to find out?”

A possible connection between the detached feet found in B.C. and the Orcas Island footless body came to him just recently when he was reading a newspaper about the case in his kitchen. “There was a report of shoes with no bodies. And I thought, gee, I have a body with no shoes. I wonder if they could be related,” Mr. Gaylord recounted.

The first foot was discovered Aug. 20 last year on Jedediah Island. Six days later, a second foot was found washed ashore on Gabriola Island.

Subsequent foot discoveries were made on Feb. 2, May 22 and June 16. All were found inside sneakers, sparking speculation that the feet remained buoyant until they drifted onto various beaches because of the footwear's low density.

Police have said that none of the feet – four right and one left – appear to have been intentionally severed, but likely detached during natural degeneration.

Two of the feet are from the same person, and one is a woman's, according to forensic investigators.

Mr. Gaylord said the body discovered by a hiker on a remote beach of Orcas Island was mostly skeletal remains. It was missing the right arm, right hand, left hand and both feet.

No foot bones were found near the remains, the coroner said. However, sheriffs did discover an argyle sock and a slip-on shoe close by, he added.

Subsequent forensic work assessed the dead person as a male, about five foot, 10 inches tall, of white, Hispanic or mixed Asian race, who died between two and 12 months before being found, Mr. Gaylord told the Globe and Mail.

“There was no indication of violence.”

He said there are excellent dental remains, including several gold inlays. “He had the means to have some nice dental work done...but slowly, this became a cold case.”

Jeff Dolan of the B.C. Coroners' Service said the service and police are taking the Orcas Island discovery seriously.

“Obviously, this is going to generate an intense amount of interest to our investigators....A number of waterways in B.C. do run into Washington State,” Mr. Dolan said.