Over the last 18 years, 24 severed feet have mysteriously washed up on the coasts of the Salish Sea.
Found on islands and beaches in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, US, there has been much speculation over the years about where these grim discoveries have come from - including extraterrestrial activity, gangs and a foot fetishising serial killer.
Gabriola Island is one of the paradise spots where a man’s right foot was found by a couple back in August 2007, not long after one was found on Jedediah Island by a 12-year-old girl.
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But the feet were both right feet, from different bodies. Since then, more than 20 feet have been discovered in the area with some from people known to be missing.
The most recent was found in July 2023 on Gonzales Beach, Victoria, British Columbia.
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The first find occurred when the young girl thought she was picking up a discarded size 12 Adidas shoe on the island, only to open the sock and find a man’s foot. Other finds were much like this; a washed-up shoe with a foot inside it, with feet rarely showing up on their own.
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A bit of a weird story, it’s one that’s become a fascination for many with the BBC even having a Footprints documentary podcast investigating it.
Journalist Celia Hatton travelled to Vancouver to speak to investigators and scientists about the mystery, with one of the theories knocking about being related to gangs.
Chris Brown from the Canadian Broadcasting Company was one of the first to cover the story and said of Vancouver: “There’s a terrible drug trade, criminal gangs and there have been mass murders. So, that’s what fuelled the speculation about gangster involvement with the feet. Were they from people who had been kidnapped and thrown in the water?”
When the feet were matched to people, it became apparent from examinations that none of the feet had been physically cut off from the bodies.
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And it turns out there’s a scientific explanation behind it.
Hatton spoke with Dr Gail Anderson, a leading forensic entomologist. She carried out a variety of experiments using pigs as they are ‘considered the closest things to humans’.
They looked at what happened to the bodies of dead pigs when they’re left in waters near Vancouver using underwater cameras.
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“We were all shocked by how fast we could get complete skeletisation,” Dr Anderson said.
“I mean, we knew that a body could break down much faster than people believe but I don’t think any of us were ready for how quickly the body was completely engulfed and gone in three days.”
It was found that various scavengers like shrimp and cramp were feeding on the pigs and breaking the bodies down quickly.
“Around the ankle area is where all the bones and joints are and where the tendons are going to break away and be eaten,” she explained. “Once that has been done, the foot is just going to fall off. Normally the whole foot would break down too, but when it’s enclosed in a synthetic running shoe, it’s just going to stay in there.”
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So, with a lack of dams in Canada, bodies lost in the water were washing out and coincidentally ending up in the Salish Sea area while the feet were broken away and preserved by the shoes.
“Once these details were clarified, the story changed and the focus was on the people who had died,” Hatton added. “We understand that almost all were victims of drowning or had chosen to take their own lives.”
Jess Battison