In a case that has fascinated people worldwide, police say they will not release the name of a missing man whose foot washed-up in Canada’s Strait of Georgia.
DNA was used to make this first match in the case of the five mystery feet that have surfaced from the waters off the coast of British Columbia.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police released the following update this afternoon:
B.C. – Tip Leads to Positive ID of Found Foot
File #2008 2008-07-21 12:45 PDTBURNABY-As a result of a tip from the public, investigators from the BC Coroners Service, RCMP and Delta Police are confirming they have made a positive identification for the remains of a right foot in a Campus running shoe found on Jedediah Island on Aug. 20, 2007.
At the request of the family, the identity of the victim will not be released to the public, though investigators can confirm he was from the Lower Mainland. RCMP investigators confirm that additional information provided by family members allowed for the identity of the victim to be verified more quickly. Cause of death is not known at this time though no evidence of foul play exists.
Investigations by the RCMP, Delta Police Department and the Coroners Service to determine identities in the three remaining cases of feet found between Aug. 2007 and June 2008 in the waters around Gabriola Island, Valdez Island, Kirkland Island and Westham Island are ongoing. On July 10, 2008, it was confirmed that the foot found on Valdez Island and the one found on Westham Island are from the same male.
Investigators also confirm that DNA analysis of the five feet has excluded all victims from the 2005 Quadra Island plane crash.
Click to view photographs of the shoes and information from the police. Anyone with information, or who may recognize one of the shoes as belonging to a missing loved one is asked to call 1-866-504-3888.
No further information is available from the Coroners Service or police at this time.
To date, Beyond90Seconds.com has published seven stories (including this update) about this mysterious case. You may read all of those stories here (listed most recent to oldest).