The latest foot encased in a running shoe that washed up on a Strait of Georgia shore in British Columbia isn’t likely to shed any light on the origin of a similar foot found near the mouth of Jim Creek in the Pysht area on Aug. 1.
“I don’t think it will, but I’m prepared to be surprised then if it does,” said Ron Peregrin, Clallam County undersheriff, on Thursday.
The latest discovery, a left-foot New Balance sneaker, was found by a woman walking her three dogs on near the mouth of the Fraser River, south of Vancouver, on Tuesday.
It was the seventh foot discovered since August 2007, and the sixth found on the shores of the Strait of Georgia, which separates Vancouver Island from the British Columbia mainland north of the U.S.-Canada border.
There is a possibility that it might be a match to a foot in a right-foot New Balance shoe that was found on Kirkland Island in the Fraser River delta on May 22.
All of the feet have been found in buoyant athletic shoes, and law enforcement on both sides of the border have few answers.
The feet all appear to have been removed from a body through the natural decaying process, and no evidence of foul play has surfaced.
Pysht foot
At this point, the right foot in the Everest brand men’s size 11 shoe found near Pysht shows no connection to any of the six found in British Columbia, Peregrin said. The foot was also in a Levis brand sock.
Peregrin said the Sheriff’s Department is still awaiting DNA results from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office in Seattle.
“We are in that area where all we can do is wait,” he said.
Initially, he had estimated the results to be completed within six to eight weeks.
“That was just a ballpark figure,” he said. “Since this case has no crime associated with it, it doesn’t get top billing.
Once the DNA results are returned, Peregrin said the Sheriff’s Department will enter the data into the federal Combined DNA Index System to find a match.
The DNA results also would confirm that the foot belongs to a man, he said.
Possible answers
Peregrin added that there is a possibility the foot found on Tuesday may lead to some answers that would help the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department in its own investigation.
It is possible that Pysht foot originated in Canadian waters, Sgt. Tim Shields of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has said.
Peregrin said a meeting between the Sheriff’s Department and Royal Canadian Mounted Police took place in late August in Victoria but didn’t produce any leads or new information.
Those representing the Sheriff’s Department were Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores and Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron, he said.
Peregin said a meeting will be held again with Canadian authorities once the Sheriff’s Department receives the DNA results.
Canadian authorities have concluded through DNA testing that one of the seven feet belonged to a man who went missing in early 2007.
The first foot was found on Aug. 20, 2007, on Jedediah Island in the northern Strait of Georgia.
Others not already mentioned were found on Gabriola Island, off Vancouver Island near Nanaimo; Valdes Island, southeast of Nanaimo; and Westham Island, southwest of Vancouver.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@ peninsuladailynews.com.
