The police in Canada have a gruesome mystery to puzzle over as after a human foot was found washed up on a beach near the west-coast city of Vancouver. It is the fourth such foot to be found on beaches in the area in the past eight months. All four of the feet were wearing socks and running shoes and all four had been in the sea for some time. But police say they have no idea how or why they came to be there and hope DNA tests, now under way, may help. Last August, two human feet washed up on the beaches of two small islands north of Vancouver. Then in February another single, right foot drifted ashore. And now a fourth – again a right foot – has been found – this time on a beach in suburban Vancouver. The city’s newspapers and coffee shops are buzzing with theories to explain the mystery. Organised crime, boating accidents – even the 2004 Asian tsunami – are all being offered as possible, if amateur, solutions. The professional detectives are saying very little.
The police say they are treating the cases as suspicious, but are quick to play down the wilder rumours about gangs and tsunamis. Forensic experts say it is actually quite common for body parts to become separated after they have been in the water for a long time. Why only right feet have been found is still a complete mystery. The police say it is possible the feet come from the passengers aboard a small plane which crashed into the water in the region several years ago – their bodies were never recovered. But the police caution that DNA test results are needed before they can say whether they have managed to solve the mystery of the four right feet.
It’s common for body parts to become separated, but still in a shoe… and all running shoes and right feet only? Does anyone see a pattern here? Updated from previous article.
Simple solution… sharks and homeless people.
More likely, (if there’s a high bridge in Vancouver), sharks and suicides off a bridge. See San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
They should be looking for people with a serious limp.
I suspect the reason why the feet always have shoes on is probably because the shoes float. Otherwise, the body parts would never make it to the shore. Maybe running shoes (with their padding) float for longer periods of time. However, I can’t even guess as to why they are always right feet.
Sounds like an episode of Dexter.
Wah Ching triad.
“Suspicious” because most humans have only two feet.
Does anyone see a pattern here?
Sure. At least four people will be starting their day off on the wrong foot.
[Har! – ed.]
They’re viral ads for Nike… unfortunately the press haven’t reported the brand of shoes yet, so some marketing director will soon have to leave…
This one’s easy. 4 supervisors for a Mattel factory in China were fired just before the quake hit for messing up manufacturing 1,000,000 Barbie dolls that had missing right feet.
This is easy. They came from Deadmans Island. Duh!
Isn’t this the result of converting to the metric system?
The other feet left.
The BBC is not the best source for the feet on a beach story.
No feet were found anywhere near a Vancouver beach.
Try CBC or the Globe & Mail. For the real location of the beached feet.
Dexter – duh
#8 – Best reply of all time. Well done.
They found the other shoe.
There have been two more feet found in the last three days.
Skee-daddy! We’re up to SIX FEET now. Enough for a buffet…
http://tinyurl.com/5ev52j