Another Foot Washes Ashore in British Columbia
https://nypost.com/2019/02/12/why-human-feet-keep-washing-ashore-in-pacific-northwest/
Mystery deepens as another foot washes up in Pacific Northwest
By Greg Norman, Fox News February 12, 2019 | 1:47pm | Updated
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A foot washed ashore near Vancouver encased in this Nike sneaker in September 2018.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY:
Is it the work of an organized crime ring? Are they remnants from bodies that have floated across the Pacific Ocean following a tsunami more than a decade ago? Perhaps a serial killer with a particularly twisted signature is on the loose in the Pacific Northwest?
Speculation surged once again Tuesday following Monday?s announcement by Canadian authorities that a human foot had washed ashore in Vancouver ? the 15th such occurrence in British Columbia in just over a decade. The grisly phenomenon has captivated the minds of the public and media for years, with theories of the origins of the feet ranging from natural disasters to something more sinister.
?There?s someone doing this all right. Think about it, if they tied a chain around someone?s ankle and threw them overboard, the foot would just pop off,? a man who made one of the morbid discoveries told The Guardian in 2008. ?Maybe they got a lot of bodies stored up in a container and they got washed out. We don?t know. There?s a lot of stuff goes on over there.?
One theory, which the Toronto Star has previously reported on, links the feet washing ashore to missing bodies from a plane crash that happened near Quadra Island in the Vancouver area in 2005. Another, The Guardian says, ties them to human remains that ? with the help of ocean currents ? have drifted across the Pacific following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.
But despite all the speculation, officials tasked with investigating the feet say the most likely explanation is that they?re coming from people who died by accident or committed suicide ? and the feet are floating ashore in the Pacific Northwest simply due to Mother Nature.
?Things that float at the ocean surface move with the currents, but also are pushed a bit by the wind, and this can be significant in getting them to shore,? Parker MacCready, a University of Washington oceanography professor, told Vox while talking about the Salish Sea, a body of water that neighbors the Strait of Georgia, where many of the feet have been found.
?The prevailing winds here are west to east, and so floating stuff in this part of the Pacific gets blown to the coast effectively,? he added.
The foot that made the headlines Monday was found in September 2018 along the Vancouver shoreline in a blue sock and a gray Nike sneaker.
The British Columbia Coroner?s Service has determined that the latest foot belonged to a man, yet has been unable to match its DNA with any databases. An identification specialist said the foot?s owner was most likely under the age of 50.
The fact that the foot was found encased in a sports sneaker is key to it being discovered. Had it not been inside one, the foot may have sunk to the sea or ocean floor, or have been consumed by wildlife, experts say.
?Feet easily disarticulate and when they are attached to a flotation device such as a running shoe, they are easily washed ashore,? Gail Anderson, co-director of the Center for Forensic Research at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, told Vox. ?Notice there are no feet washing ashore in stiletto heels or flip-flops. Also, today?s running shoes are much more buoyant than in the past.?
Forensic investigators who have examined the feet over the years have ruled out foul play, The Guardian reported last year, noting that ?none of the feet showed signs of trauma.?
Some of the feet that have washed up have been faked, a former official with the British Columbia Coroner?s Service said.
?We?ve had people put dog foot skeletons in runners and leave them on the beach,? Barb McLintock told The Guardian in 2016. ?And somebody even used old chicken bones.?
But for those real ones ? and probably the case of the foot that made the news yesterday ? it?s likely a mix of natural human activity, improved footwear and Mother Nature that is driving the phenomenon.
Mystery deepens as another foot washes up in Pacific Northwest
By Greg Norman, Fox News February 12, 2019 | 1:47pm | Updated
Modal Trigger
A foot washed ashore near Vancouver encased in this Nike sneaker in September 2018.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY:
Is it the work of an organized crime ring? Are they remnants from bodies that have floated across the Pacific Ocean following a tsunami more than a decade ago? Perhaps a serial killer with a particularly twisted signature is on the loose in the Pacific Northwest?
Speculation surged once again Tuesday following Monday?s announcement by Canadian authorities that a human foot had washed ashore in Vancouver ? the 15th such occurrence in British Columbia in just over a decade. The grisly phenomenon has captivated the minds of the public and media for years, with theories of the origins of the feet ranging from natural disasters to something more sinister.
?There?s someone doing this all right. Think about it, if they tied a chain around someone?s ankle and threw them overboard, the foot would just pop off,? a man who made one of the morbid discoveries told The Guardian in 2008. ?Maybe they got a lot of bodies stored up in a container and they got washed out. We don?t know. There?s a lot of stuff goes on over there.?
One theory, which the Toronto Star has previously reported on, links the feet washing ashore to missing bodies from a plane crash that happened near Quadra Island in the Vancouver area in 2005. Another, The Guardian says, ties them to human remains that ? with the help of ocean currents ? have drifted across the Pacific following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.
But despite all the speculation, officials tasked with investigating the feet say the most likely explanation is that they?re coming from people who died by accident or committed suicide ? and the feet are floating ashore in the Pacific Northwest simply due to Mother Nature.
?Things that float at the ocean surface move with the currents, but also are pushed a bit by the wind, and this can be significant in getting them to shore,? Parker MacCready, a University of Washington oceanography professor, told Vox while talking about the Salish Sea, a body of water that neighbors the Strait of Georgia, where many of the feet have been found.
?The prevailing winds here are west to east, and so floating stuff in this part of the Pacific gets blown to the coast effectively,? he added.
The foot that made the headlines Monday was found in September 2018 along the Vancouver shoreline in a blue sock and a gray Nike sneaker.
The British Columbia Coroner?s Service has determined that the latest foot belonged to a man, yet has been unable to match its DNA with any databases. An identification specialist said the foot?s owner was most likely under the age of 50.
The fact that the foot was found encased in a sports sneaker is key to it being discovered. Had it not been inside one, the foot may have sunk to the sea or ocean floor, or have been consumed by wildlife, experts say.
?Feet easily disarticulate and when they are attached to a flotation device such as a running shoe, they are easily washed ashore,? Gail Anderson, co-director of the Center for Forensic Research at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, told Vox. ?Notice there are no feet washing ashore in stiletto heels or flip-flops. Also, today?s running shoes are much more buoyant than in the past.?
Forensic investigators who have examined the feet over the years have ruled out foul play, The Guardian reported last year, noting that ?none of the feet showed signs of trauma.?
Some of the feet that have washed up have been faked, a former official with the British Columbia Coroner?s Service said.
?We?ve had people put dog foot skeletons in runners and leave them on the beach,? Barb McLintock told The Guardian in 2016. ?And somebody even used old chicken bones.?
But for those real ones ? and probably the case of the foot that made the news yesterday ? it?s likely a mix of natural human activity, improved footwear and Mother Nature that is driving the phenomenon.
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Since there has never been a match for a missing person through DNA on any of the found feet and no bodies have been found in the area that are missing a foot or feet, I have a sneaking suspicion it may be an undertaker-type who is chopping off the foot of people killed accidentally and are about to be cremated or embalmed.
This may be done as some sort of macabre mystery to drive the cops and media nuts. Toss the foot in an area of the Sound where it's sure to wash up on shore and the mystery deepens and deepens.
I'm leaning this way because no one would ever miss a foot on a cremated body, no one checks for feet on people in open casket funerals, and known-identity dead people with clean records that are killed in accidents aren't usually in missing persons/wanted person's DNA databases (None of the feet have come from known missing persons, etc.)0 -
With The feet that have been found in the past, they suspect come from the tsunami in Japan. They suspect that because of the type and style of the shoe that were on the feet matched the time frame of when the tsunami hit in Japan 0 -
It started before the Japanese tsunami. 0 -
A little more info from another story on this particular foot:
In this particular instance, the BC Coroners Service provided a pretty detailed look at the foot that has stumped investigators. According to a spokesperson for the agency, it was found in a size nine-and-a-half Nike running shoe that they were able to establish was manufactured for only a few months in early 2017.
This rules out the tsunami.
Riomouse I think you have nailed it. It is some undertaker type who is pulling a prank.
I mean, somebody has to do it I guess, but can you imagine what kind of person would work in a morgue or be an undertaker. It is going to attract some sickos.
So this lonely bored undertaker assistant, now and then, saws off a foot and throws the foot and shoe into the Pacific. I bet he is getting a bunch of giggles about this story.
If they have found 15 feet, in shoes, I bet undertaker guy has tossed 30 or 40 of 'em into the drink. I mean, sharks gotta eat too.0 -
Stumps investigators... 0 -
Locally we had a Doc who got in trouble for using amputated parts for crab bait, unlikely this is the case here considering the shoe attached. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Riomouse911
Since there has never been a match for a missing person through DNA on any of the found feet and no bodies have been found in the area that are missing a foot or feet, I have a sneaking suspicion it may be an undertaker-type who is chopping off the foot of people killed accidentally and are about to be cremated or embalmed.
This may be done as some sort of macabre mystery to drive the cops and media nuts. Toss the foot in an area of the Sound where it's sure to wash up on shore and the mystery deepens and deepens.
I'm leaning this way because no one would ever miss a foot on a cremated body, no one checks for feet on people in open casket funerals, and known-identity dead people with clean records that are killed in accidents aren't usually in missing persons/wanted person's DNA databases (None of the feet have come from known missing persons, etc.)
The issue with your theory is the chopping part. If your theory is right then they are pulling the feet off at the ankle, or carefully cutting through soft tissue, cutting through bone would leave tool marks that would be obvious to pathologists. They already said there are indications of foul play.0 -
Boy! Could I make a great Niki commercial with that foot!
along the lines of the old Timex slogan...."It takes a lickin and keeps ticking"
[;)][:D]0 -
Heh Heh Many years ago in the U.K on the south coast where My parents lived some human remains were found on the local beach.The rumer mill started turning, neighbors eyed each other with suspicion,kids bought in before dark.Plenty of theories including it being an immigrant who drowned crossing the channel from France and a Celtic warrior(The original Celtic/Roman town is under the sea now due to rising levels) The coroner found it had been embalmed at some stage and concluded it had drifted there from miles away [:D] 0 -
They are probably going to come up with a new serial killer with a foot fetish![:D]
Or perhaps somebody's using an old wood chipper that just can't quite finish the job![:0]0 -
quote:Originally posted by babun
Boy! Could I make a great Niki commercial with that foot!
along the lines of the old Timex slogan...."It takes a lickin and keeps ticking"
[;)][:D]
In a Mafia tone.... Our Shoes will outlasts yous0 -
quote:Originally posted by us55840
With the DNA testing available today to determine ones' ancestory, seems they could determine something.
Or maybe the ancestory info people pay for is all fake. [?]
One thing for sure: The game is afoot! [8D]
Or they have submitted the DNA to several sites and they are in a waiting game. It takes someone from that family to also submit a sample to get a match, and there is no guarantee someone related will do that.0 -
quote:Originally posted by select-fire
quote:Originally posted by babun
Boy! Could I make a great Niki commercial with that foot!
along the lines of the old Timex slogan...."It takes a lickin and keeps ticking"
[;)][:D]
In a Mafia tone.... Our Shoes will outlasts yous
SWIM-SAFE SHARK AWAY
You can buy our repealant or not.
it's your choice
only $29.89 a can
[:D]0 -
Hmmmm...where is Ann Rule when we need her ? 0 -
as Sherlock said to Watson.."The games afoot" 0 -
After much searching, interviewing, chasing leads down, I have found
the owner of the missing feet.
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You have to be from Appalachia to understand-
Must be them foot washing Baptists again...?.
[:p]0
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