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Authorities in Washington State and British Columbia are investigating another disembodied foot – the sixth to wash up on the shores of the West Coast in the past year.

The foot was found on a beach about 64 kilometres west of Port Angeles, Wash., 1.6 kilometres east of Pillar Point on the shores of the Juan de Fuca Strait. The woman who passed by it on her way to her campsite Friday thought nothing, at first, of what she thought was simply a lost shoe, said Clallam County Undersheriff Ronald Peregrin. But camping out that night, he said, she couldn't stop thinking about the news reports of a spate of washed-up feet in B.C.

The woman returned the next day, and with the help of a man who owns a campsite nearby, poured sand out of the shoe to find a sock containing bones and decomposing flesh. Undersheriff Peregrin said authorities did a search of the area but found nothing in connection with the foot, which is now under forensic examination in Seattle.

“The foot was fairly well decomposed. … The shoe, at outward appearance, didn't appear to have been there, like, months and months and months,” he said, adding that authorities didn't look closely at the sand-covered shoe because they didn't want to disturb it before a forensic investigation.

The right foot was encased in a black, low-top running shoe, which Undersheriff Peregrin estimated was a man's size 11. He said the brand has not been determined. A cursory examination revealed no signs of tool marks that would indicate the foot was forcibly severed, he said.

Four of the five shoes that have washed up off the B.C. coast since August, 2007, have been right feet. Only one was a woman's. B.C. RCMP announced last month that two of the feet – both in size 11 Nikes – belong to the same person, and they matched one of the shoes to a man from the Lower Mainland whose identity they haven't released at his family's request.

The series of feet found in the West Coast waters created heated speculation as to their origins, and at least one hoax earlier this year, when what was thought to be a sixth foot turned out to be an animal paw wrapped in seaweed. Both Canadian and U.S. authorities noted it's possible this latest could be a hoax, and coroners must confirm that the remains are, indeed, human.

B.C. RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields said authorities in Canada are sharing information with Washington State authorities to determine whether the investigations are connected.

“Any evidence they find will be compared with the list of missing people in British Columbia to see if we can obtain a match,” he said.