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Possible human foot found ashore in Clallam County
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER
A shoe with what is believed to be a human foot was found on a Clallam County beach, about 14 miles from the Canadian shoreline, and U.S. authorities are working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to see if there's a connection to five feet that have washed ashore there.
Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said the Washington shoe is similar to three of those found in Canada: the remains appear to be from a human right foot and were inside a man's low-cut athletic shoe, possibly used for hiking.
"But this is a considerable distance to where the others were found in Canadian waters," he said. "And one that was found was a hoax, so we want to be certain."
Deputies plan to send the shoe for forensic examination Monday. Results of a DNA profile will take six to eight weeks, Peregrin said.
Since August 2007, four men's' feet and a woman's right foot were found on Canadian beaches. The RCMP announced last month none of the feet were forcibly severed. Police discovered two of the feet belonged to the same man and determined a sixth foot found earlier this year was not human.
Authorities said a woman walking along Jim Creek found the foot Friday and reported it to the Clallam County Sheriff's Office early Saturday.
"She could see sand in the shoe and when she removed the sock, she could tell there were bones and probably decomposing flesh," Peregrin said of the woman, who found the shoe in seaweed near milepost 34 on state Route 112.
Clallam County Sheriff's deputies began working with the RCMP Saturday. Local authorities were hesitant to speculate on if there is a link between the cases.
"But those similarities you can't ignore," Peregrin said. "We want to make sure our investigation is coordinated."
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — An athletic shoe containing a human foot was found on a Washington state beach, and authorities are investigating whether it may be linked to a series of human feet found in shoes along the coast of British Columbia.
Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said Monday that the King County medical examiner determined the foot was human and detached from its body naturally after floating in the water.
Peregrin said the foot will be sent for a forensic investigation, including DNA testing to see if it matches feet found washed ashore in British Columbia. Results are expected to take six to eight weeks.
Authorities said a woman told the Clallam County sheriff's office on Saturday that she found the black, high-top shoe along the beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 30 miles west of Port Angeles.
Five athletic shoes containing human feet have been found along the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland since August 2007. The Strait of Juan de Fuca separates the Canadian island and Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
A sixth foot found in June in British Columbia was determined to be an animal paw that had been shoved inside a shoe as a hoax.
"We're a little apprehensive since the last one was a hoax," said Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores.
DNA testing linked one of the Canadian feet to a depressed man who went missing a year ago. Investigators have also concluded that two of the five feet belonged to one man and that one foot was from a woman.
British Columbia coroner Jeff Dolan has said there was no evidence the feet were severed. Experts say that when a human body is submerged in the ocean, the arms, legs, hands, feet and head usually come off the body.
Another severed foot washes up on B.C. shore
Updated: Tue Nov. 11 2008 23:48:25
ctvbc.ca
CTV News is reporting another development in a case that has baffled police and the public for over a year, drawing worldwide attention to British Columbia's southwest coast.
Another severed foot has washed up on B.C.'s shoreline, this time in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, where it was discovered by a woman on Tuesday morning while she was walking near the banks of the Fraser River with her dogs.
"It had been brought up by a high tide,'' said Diane Johnston. Since she was too scared to climb down the river bank to fetch a running shoe that was sitting up on a rock, she notifed her husband Ken, who later phoned Richmond police.
RCMP Const. Annie Linteau has confirmed that the New Balance running shoe contained the remains of a human foot. Those remains will be sent to the B.C. Coroners office for further examination Wednesday.
It is the seventh foot to have been found in a coastal region -- that includes the B.C. west coast, and the northwestern tip of Washington State -- since August of 2007.
The first foot was found on Jedidiah Island, in the strait that divides Vancouver Island from the mainland. It was a right foot inside a Campus-brand men's size 12 running shoe that was mainly distributed in India.
Six days later, another right foot -- inside a man's size 12 Reebok running shoe -- washed ashore on Gabriola Island.
A third -- a right foot in a Nike sneaker -- was found in the area on Feb. 8 on the east side of Valdez Island.
The fourth and fifth feet were both found near the Fraser River.
The fourth came ashore on Kirkland Island on May 22 and was the only one of the five that came from a woman's body. It was found in a New Balance running shoe.
The fifth, a size 10 left foot, was located a kilometre away on June 16. It was later determined to be a match to the foot found months earlier on Valdez Island.
Then, on August 3, a newspaper in Washington State reported that a running shoe, containing bones and flesh had been found at a Strait of Juan de Fuca beach, just south of the U.S-Canada border, about 40 kilometres west of Port Angeles.
Police are expected to answer media questions about the Richmond discovery later today.
"The shoe looked to be in pretty good shape,'' said Ken Johnston during an interview with CTV. He said it was found near the mouth of the Fraser River, behind an old paper plant in Finn Slough.
Only one foot has been positively identified, but foul play is not suspected and police have said they believe the feet became detached by "natural processes."
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