Another human foot washes up in British Columbia

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, say a human foot inside a running shoe has washed ashore, the latest in roughly a dozen such cases since 2007.

Police say the foot and leg bone were seen late Tuesday afternoon floating along the shore of Vancouver's False Creek.

Police so far have no theories about how the foot ended up in the water.

In the past four years, about a dozen feet encased in shoes have washed up on beaches near Vancouver, along the southern Georgia Strait and off Washington state.

Most of the remains are unidentified, although investigators said at least two of the feet belong to men who were reported missing.

In previous cases, police said it appeared the feet separated from bodies naturally in the water and foul play wasn't suspected.

[Ayne1]

I watched a documentary about this about a month ago and in it was strong evidence presented that some of these body parts belonged to people who were believed to have jumped off one of the nearby bridges and committed suicide. Some of those who were i.d.'d, as I understand it were depressed or at risk of suicide. They also talked about how a human body would decompose in the frigid water and why the running shoes act as flotation devices. The evidence was presented as follows:
1. All they have found are feet in running shoes- Running shoes are especially buoyant compared to other kinds of shoes, lending to the fact that the rest of the bodies are/were in fact in the water somewhere and cast doubt on the theory that a serial killer is leaving these shoes on the shore.
2. They took the body of a pig, anchored it underwater, and observed it for several days/weeks with underwater cameras to see how the decomposition process might enable a foot or other body part to break away from the rest.
3. They studied the currents from the bridge in question and found how it was completely plausible how someone can have jumped, drowned, sank to the bottom (due to cold temperatures) and had a foot detach during decomposition and, buoyant by the particular brand/make/type of shoe encasing the foot, float to shore in a range where the feet have been actually found.
4. They sought to discover the identity of missing individuals, some of which were id'd as what they described as "depressed" individuals, as seen here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article698223.ece I know there have been multiple people identified, but the fact that the news stories at the time kept the names of the victims anonymous makes it hard to know if I'd be citing sources that are reporting on the same victims.
Anyway, I thought the whole thing was rather interesting. Will post the link to the documentary if I can find it.

[AJMarine12]

by erasmus111 August 31, 2011 3:39 PM EDT

Yes, they died, but it doesn't mean it was foul play. What they are also saying is that the feet hadn't been severed deliberately.

These deaths could be from suicide, or accidental deaths, like boating accidents, or someone falling into the water. It just so happens that they end up here, because that's just how the currents go.



That's good to hear. I was starting to get a little afraid that when I come and see you I would have to be worrying about someone cutting my feet off and throwing them in the Ocean.

Now we can walk the beach together in peace.

Kiss

[erasmus111]

No, no worries, AJMarine.

Kiss

[erasmus111]

Well, actually, you could have one worry. Someone might rip your clothes off and have their way with you. : )

[skithebumps]

Check all the shoe stores in the area. That's what Columbo would do.

[kbbpll]

There are tens of thousands of missing people from the 2005 and 2011 tsunamis. That's a lot of body parts floating around. The article gives no clue about how decomposed or old these remains are. Shoes would protect foot remains like nothing else a person normally wears on other parts. Why Vancouver? Perhaps there's something about the ocean currents there that deposits these remains.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

The feet naturally separated from the bodies in the water? How in the world do feet naturally separate from a body just because it's in the water? Does this mean I should be concerned about swimming? Because my feet might fall off?

[Jaylah54]

Guess you really don't know anything about how bodies decompose, do you? Might want to see if you can find a used 6th grade biology textbook.

[RogerInHawaii]

Really? Your 6th grade biology textbook has a chapter on human body decomposition?

[Forty-Four]

We's just dump the bodies off the coast of Canada. No one ever suspect a thing. Any other questions?

So boss, I just do's as you says.

[catwoman1952]

"The feet separated from the bodies naturally and foul play wasn't suspected" Where in the hell do you think those feet came from, people who commited suicide? How dumb can you be? Of course there was foul play, obviously someone died!

[displeased2]

That was the first thing I thought too after reading that paragraph. A dozen feet over four years? I think it's time they start suspecting foul play.

[erasmus111]

Yes, they died, but it doesn't mean it was foul play. What they are also saying is that the feet hadn't been severed deliberately.

These deaths could be from suicide, or accidental deaths, like boating accidents, or someone falling into the water. It just so happens that they end up here, because that's just how the currents go.