Yet another dismembered foot has washed up on the southern coast of British Columbia.
The Royal Canadian Mountain Police state a hiker found the foot, complete with hiking boot, on secluded Gabriola Island the Sunday before last.
His grim discovery means 14 feet have been found in the region in the past eleven years. More have been discovered further south on America’s Washington coastline.
Most of the other appendages were found while wearing athletic shoes; it is believed the buoyancy of the footwear contributes to the feet washing up on the shore as opposed to sinking to the murky depths.
Although the grim findings at first seemed like the gory workings of a serial killer, Andy Watson of British Columbia’s Coroners Service last week said foul play had already been ruled out in all of the previous cases.
Instead, authorities believe many of the feet belong to individuals involved in accidents at sea, or who took their own life on or near the water.
The latest foot to be found will be subject to DNA testing. Previously, authorities were able to match the other found feet to individuals who had been reported missing.
In 2016, coroner Barb McLintock said “a lot of this is simply the quelling of the public imagination, to say ‘no, this is unfortunate and they’re all very sad cases.’”
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