Little is yet known about a sneaker-clad right foot found on a beach near Pysht in August, but it may be one of the stars of a show, anyway.
National Geographic has contacted Clallam County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores about the use of DNA evidence in attempts to solve the mystery of human feet in athletic shoes washing up on shores.
He said a documentary may be made.
“I told them that it is a tool we use to positively identify people, and it is especially helpful in solving crimes, but also to exonerate people who have been wrongly convicted,” Moores said.
Scientists are seeking a DNA match to a black-sneaker-clad right foot found Aug. 2 at the former Silver King Resort, about 30 miles west of Port Angeles.
A DNA profile of the human foot contained in the men’s size 11 high-top hiking shoe was recently completed.
It will be compared to profiles in an extensive database within the next two weeks, Moores said.
The profile has been compared to those of the five shoe-clad feet that were discovered in 2007 and 2008 in the vicinity of the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, Canada.
No matches were found, Moores said.
The foot was found inside an Everest brand sold exclusively in Canada, Moores said.
He tracked the serial number on the shoe and found that it was manufactured in January 2006.
“So we know it was sometime after that that the person disappeared,” he said.
DNA test
To seek a match, the DNA profile from the foot found inside the shoe will be scanned into each of a five-part Combined DNA Index System — known as CODIS.
“The first part is an index of convicted offenders, another is profiles from crime scene evidence, then missing persons, relatives of missing persons and then unidentified human remains — which is how this foot would be classified,” Moores said.
“So the DNA will be run against all of those, and we’ll see if it has any matches.”
The DNA profile, which looks like a bar code, will be carefully compared to all the samples in each category, he said.
“They look just like a bar code, but everybody’s bar code is different,” he said, adding he wasn’t sure how long it would take to complete the comparisons.
“The thing about DNA is that it is such a great tool that has really helped us to solve cases,” Moores said.
Six feet
Until August’s discovery of the foot near Pysht, all of the feet were found on beaches about 50 miles away, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in and around the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland.
All of the six feet found were disarticulated naturally, scientists have said.
They appear to have separated naturally from their bodies while in the water.
Four of the five found in Canada were right feet, like the one found near Pysht.
Experts say that when a human body is submerged in the ocean, the arms, legs, hands, feet and head usually come off the body. The athletic shoes may give them buoyancy in tidal waters.
DNA testing has concluded that one of the five severed feet found in Canada belonged to a depressed man who went missing in early 2007.
Moores said he spoke with Canadian authorities on Tuesday and that they hadn’t made any progress in the cases, either.
An unidentified woman who was camping at the former Silver King Resort, which now features privately owned campsites, discovered the beached shoe tangled in tidal seaweed and debris.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
