B.C.'s severed-foot puzzle takes on frightening aura
Sixth foot washes ashore on beach near Campbell River; 'It makes me wonder what's going on, is it foul play?'
JUSTINE HUNTER AND BRENNAN CLARKE
June 19, 2008
VICTORIA AND CAMPBELL RIVER -- The black running shoe, wrapped in seaweed, didn't stand out on the pebbled beach near Campbell River yesterday. It was the stomach-turning sight of human bones sticking up above the ankle line that left Sandra Malone shaken.
The long-time manager of the Thunderbird RV Park on Tyee Spit was at work yesterday morning when a distressed woman arrived, asking to phone police. She had just discovered what is now the sixth human foot to wash up on a B.C. shore in less than a year - and the second one this week.
While they waited for police to arrive, the woman, who had been collecting rocks, led Ms. Malone down to the beach. There she saw a man's Adidas sneaker. It was the right foot, about a size 10. Of the six feet to wash up in a relatively small section of B.C.'s coast, five have been the right.
"There were two bones sticking out above the ankle, about three to four inches, clean cut across," she said yesterday. "I assume it had been cut."
That detail may set this find apart. In the first four cases, police have no evidence that the feet were severed. It is more likely they came apart from bodies left in water, a natural process called disarticulation. The running shoes tend to preserve the remains, and help bring the feet up to the surface because the soles float.
Curtis Smith, a resident of Gabriola Island, who discovered the third foot in February, said the shoe, a white Nike runner, size 11, was stained with blood.
He also said that it looked brand new, "straight out of the box."
"When the RCMP guy came, all he said was 'pretty new tread,' " Mr. Smith said.
Mr. Smith and Eugene Boykin had been falling cedar on Valdes Island, when they decided to take a break and walk down to the beach. There they spotted the foot, with a white sock hanging from it. They examined it for saw marks but didn't find any, and indicated that it didn't appear to have been cut straight across.
Until now, the bizarre finds seemed like a distant story to Ms. Malone. Now her little beach has a malignant feel. "It makes me wonder what's going on, is it foul play? It's so close to home, it's a little scary."
The foot washed ashore on a long, narrow strip of land at the mouth of the Campbell River, about 50 metres north of an industrial dock. Ms. Malone pointed to the spot where the foot lay, just above the high water mark. The steep, rocky beach often collects objects washed up in the wake of cruise ships that frequent the Johnstone Strait.
Campbell River RCMP arrived at the scene and packaged the waterlogged remains in a plastic bin. The B.C. Coroners Service is leading the investigation into all six cases. They are transferring each of the feet to a forensics lab to obtain DNA samples and to search for clues about age, gender, height - anything that can help build a profile of who the feet belonged to.
Each case is being investigated as a separate file, but the RCMP's major crimes division is co-ordinating to determine if there are any links.
There are roughly 2,400 missing persons cases in B.C. and there is a strong likelihood the feet can be traced to somewhere in the province, an expert in ocean currents said yesterday.
Susan Allen, an associate professor from the University of B.C.'s Earth and Ocean Sciences department, specializes in the marine ecosystem in the Strait of Georgia. All of the feet have been located in or near the strait.
It's nearly impossible to pinpoint where these feet may have originated - the strait is a cauldron of fickle currents. "There is nothing simple in the Strait of Georgia," she said. "The currents change with the wind. I can't tell you what is upstream."
But it is probable they are, she said, a "local problem." They likely began their journey either in the strait or in one of the rivers that feeds into it. (In the case of the two feet that washed up at the mouth of the Fraser River, the math is simpler because nothing flows up that river.)
RCMP Constable Annie Linteau, a spokeswoman for the major crimes division, said the bulk of the investigation is being handled by the coroners service. In addition to DNA samples, investigators are trying to trace the sneakers to the manufacturers and, they hope, to the stores where the shoes were sold.
"We are reviewing all missing-persons files; it could it be a case of someone who may have jumped from a bridge, victims of drowning or a plane crash."
Kirsten Stevens visited the spit later in the day, hoping the latest find will help solve her own mystery. Three years ago, a float plane crashed just minutes away from Campbell River. Only one body - her husband's - was recovered. Four men are still missing.
"We came down to see what we could find out," she said, referring to the victims' families who were brought together by the crash. "It makes us want to go out and search the beaches all over again."
As she spoke, a realization hit her. "Aw gosh, this is the same spit where the plane took off from," she said. "It's a reminder of the lack of closure we've had with five men dying. It's disheartening."
Everybody has a theory ...
Everyone from forensic experts to conspiracy theorists are casting about for an answer to the mystery of the feet that are washing up on B.C. shores.
Theories swirl that they belong to people who perished in plane or boat crashes. Stowaways - desperate to flee to another land, dangerously encased in vessels and often travelling in groups - are another possibility, says one American underwater crime-scene investigation expert.
"With the ocean currents that prevail in that area, I would not be surprised to see maybe some stowaways that have gone overboard," said Joseph Finley, a retired FBI special agent.
"These folks generally find watertight compartments underneath the bottom of the ship.
"It would be easy for someone to fall in, be washed in or be sucked into the eddy under the ship," he said.
The six disembodied feet encased in running shoes have all turned up on a relatively small patch of the vast B.C. shoreline within the past year.
Two feet were found this week, including one that appears to be a man's right foot, size 10.
Online forums have lit up with whodunit theories, many quickly veering into the outrageous. Conspiracy theorists hypothesize on everything from a crazed podiatrist or a foot fetish serial killer to a twisted mortician tossing body parts into the sea. But Dr. Finley quickly ruled out that type of reasoning.
"I don't think you have a perverted psychotic killer," he said. And he can't help but wonder if coastal B.C. is in for more gruesome finds.
"You can assume there are other lefts and rights floating out around there. There are a matching pair in the ocean - whether they show up or not is a different story."
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