The following story, about a human foot washing up on the beach of Vancouver Island, is weird, but also has a personal element of weirdness for me. More about that in a bit. But stories like this always catch my attention. So apparently, including this most recent foot, 13 feet have washed up on the shore of Vancouver Island since 2007 (and among 18 found in the Pacific Northwest since then). My first thought, being someone who is also very fascinated by serial killers (and Jack the Ripper in particular), was that these are red flags for a serial killer being in the area. The article does mention that the feet probably belonged to suicide victims, and that may very well be the case. But still, it’s odd any time there’s a grouping of body parts like this. I can sort of buy into the suicide theory, but the fact that it’s only feet that are washing up tells me something more may be going on here. Also, the feet are usually found with the sock and shoe still on. And the shoe is almost invariably a sneaker or running shoe. So the suicide theory doesn’t really hold water for me. Again, it’s possible, but there may be something bigger at play here.
(CNN) – A human foot, stuffed inside a black sock and shoe, has been found along Vancouver Island’s Botanical Beach, officials in Canada said.
Authorities do not suspect foul play, according to Barb McLintock with the British Columbia Coroners Service.She said officials believe the foot separated naturally after a lengthy exposure to water, and then washed up on the beach. A hiker found the foot on Sunday.
The shoe found with the foot was first sold in North America in March 2013, read a statement from the BC Coroners Service, which added that it believes the shoe’s owner died sometime between March 2013 and December 2015.
The discovery is not the first time a human foot has washed up on the shores of British Columbia.
Including the foot found this week, 13 feet have washed up along the coastline since 2007, the statement said. Authorities were able to identify 10 of those feet, which belonged to seven individuals.
CNN newsgathering partner CBC News quoted an official as saying that he believes most cases were determined to be suicides. Officials said at least one case in 2008 was a hoax.
Now for the personal connection. I am convinced that I blogged about this story a few years back, when it was first reported that there was a pattern of feet washing up on the shores there. My fiancée/fellow writer here sent me this link, and she also has this memory of blogging about this story. Yet, we cannot find any evidence that I ever did. Now it’s possible I deleted the story, either accidentally or on purpose. But I backup my database regularly, and I haven’t noticed any other stories missing. I thought perhaps I did a draft and never published it, but I have many stories that I have written and never published, for a variety of reasons. I usually don’t delete anything I write. So it’s a bit of a mystery in the household today. Did I ever write the story? If so, where is it? Why do I remember the Berenstain bears as being spelled Berenstein? Why do I remember seeing the missing Thunderbird photo? So many mysteries, so little time.
