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Severed Leg (And Feet) Mysteries

Once a body has been in water for a while, it doesn't take much for it to fall apart.
 
11.2.2019: Human foot found inside a Nike shoe on West Vancouver shoreline.

It was within a light grey Nike Free RN shoe on the shore near the 30th Street beach access point in West Vancouver.
The size 9.5 shoe was manufactured between February 1 and April 17, 2017, and has a white base and a black Nike swoosh. The foot was in a blue sock.

In a news release today, the B.C. Coroners Service said that a DNA analysis matched with files of missing people has not yielded a match.

The test revealed that the foot belonged to a male.

The B.C. Coroners Service's identification specialist believes that the foot belonged to a man under the age of 50, based on its bone structure.

According to the West Vancouver Police Department, there is no evidence of a death from foul play at this point.

https://www.straight.com/news/1199726/human-foot-found-inside-nike-shoe-west-vancouver-shoreline

Wikipedia article on human foot discoveries in the Salish Sea.

maximus otter
 
I thought that there was a thread 'strange deaths' but couldn't find it. Please move there if someone finds it. This is from the Morecambe Visitor and a pair of disembodied feet turning up on the coast, case still unsolved:

Disembodied feet found in Heysham remain a cold case mystery​
MICHELLE BLADE Email Published: 17:06 Tuesday 05 March 2019 ​
​
Britain’s first online database of unsolved deaths may help police solve the mystery of a woman’s right foot found in a training shoe in Middleton, near Overton, in August 1987. Launched by the Missing Persons Bureau, the grim website contains images and identifying features of 1,029 men and women, as well as details of 105 babies, who have remained unclaimed by their families​
​
Grim photos held on the site show victims’ faces taken from the mortuary slab, tattoos, items found on them such as jewellery and hair brooches, as well as eerie sketches and reconstructions of their faces. The database includes details of a right foot found inside a sock and training shoe which was found at Middleton on August 5, 1987. OnAugust 31, 1987 a left foot was found in an identical sock and training shoe at Heysham. The shoes were British size 4. The missing persons bureau database features all the information known about the feet, that they came from a white European woman between the ages of 17 and 50 and the trainers were grey and bue with three vertical stripes on the side.​
​
Continued:​
​
Now moved--Yith​
 
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I am of the opinion that the place likes to play tricks upon us.... :spider:
 
This severed foot in a shoe was apparently discovered near the shore.
Juneau police say human remains found in shoe

The Juneau Police Department says that they have found human remains inside a shoe that it believes is part of a foot.

In a press release, the department says that they responded to a call of human remains on Sunday around 12:30 p.m., and located the shoe on the sea walk near the Department of Labor building.

They say that the remains, while identifiably human, were in a deteriorated position and "appeared to have been outside in the weather for a long time," and that the type of the shoe couldn't be determined.

Officers searched the area for any other evidence, but couldn't find any.

The shoe will be sent to the Alaska Crime Lab to see if identification can be made.

In 2017, a boot with a human leg still attached was found on Sandy Beach in Juneau.
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Juneau-police-say-human--566762791.html
 
Good news! My favourite authors have released their latest novel featuring severed feet being washed up on a beach! :cheer:

The book is Crooked River by Preston and Child. I stopped reading the review as it seemed to be giving away the plot but I have downloaded the book and will probably get no work done for the next couple of days..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crooked-Ri...?keywords=crooked+river&qid=1580901589&sr=8-1

(Disclaimer - I am just a fan not a paid promoter.)
 
The Mystery Of Why Human Feet Keep Washing Ashore In The US And Canada Has Been Solved

Since August 20, 2007, an alarming number of human feet have washed up on the coasts of the Salish Sea in the US and Canada. OK, any number of human feet washing up on the shore is a little alarming, but between 2007 and 2019 there have been over 21 feet – usually still in their shoes – that have wound up being found by beachgoers completely unattached to their humans.

The first two were found within the space of a week by a young girl and a couple enjoying a walk. Both were right feet, and both were size 12.

"Both feet were decomposing, but still had flesh on them," Vancouver Island regional coroner Rose Stanton told CBC at the time of the discovery.

Over the next few years, more feet started washing up, including a few pairs, almost always in sneakers. The story began to get media attention around the world, with some speculating that there was a serial killer on the loose or that the mafia was disposing of bodies in the classic "sleeping with the fishes" manner.

It had all the hallmarks of a classic mystery, with the question of why feet would suddenly start showing up in such numbers, or at all.

Well, sorry to burst your bubble but this was not the work of some particularly unhinged serial killer who had a particular hate for joggers. The explanation is much simpler than that: It was a change in the footwear industry.

“We pretty well think we know what happened in every case,” coroner Barb McLintock told the National Post when more feet washed up in 2016. “There’s none that have any suggestion of homicide [...] in every case there is an alternate, very reasonable explanation.”

When a body – from an accident or a suicide – is out at sea and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it is quickly set upon by scavengers. Scavengers like crustaceans are lazy feeders and will prefer to tackle the softer parts of the body than the tough gristly bits. On humans, the soft parts include our ankles, which are mainly soft tissue and ligaments. Chew away at this, and the foot will detach pretty quickly before any major decomposition has set in. The bodies went down whole, the feet were detached by fish.

As for why the phenomenon didn't really happen until 2007 (though there are sparse instances of feet washing up previous to this), that's where sneaker design comes in. Over the last few decades, sneakers have been made of lighter foam, as well as including air pockets in the soles.

“It really didn’t come up until we had running shoes that floated so well,” McLintock said. “Before, they just stayed down there at the bottom of the ocean.”

Source: The Mystery Of Why Human Feet Keep Washing Ashore In The US And Canada Has Been Solved | IFLScience
 
FelixAntonius said:
The Mystery Of Why Human Feet Keep Washing Ashore In The US And Canada Has Been Solved

Since August 20, 2007, an alarming number of human feet have washed up on the coasts of the Salish Sea in the US and Canada. OK, any number of human feet washing up on the shore is a little alarming, but between 2007 and 2019 there have been over 21 feet – usually still in their shoes – that have wound up being found by beachgoers completely unattached to their humans.

The first two were found within the space of a week by a young girl and a couple enjoying a walk. Both were right feet, and both were size 12.

"Both feet were decomposing, but still had flesh on them," Vancouver Island regional coroner Rose Stanton told CBC at the time of the discovery.

Over the next few years, more feet started washing up, including a few pairs, almost always in sneakers. The story began to get media attention around the world, with some speculating that there was a serial killer on the loose or that the mafia was disposing of bodies in the classic "sleeping with the fishes" manner.

It had all the hallmarks of a classic mystery, with the question of why feet would suddenly start showing up in such numbers, or at all.

Well, sorry to burst your bubble but this was not the work of some particularly unhinged serial killer who had a particular hate for joggers. The explanation is much simpler than that: It was a change in the footwear industry.

“We pretty well think we know what happened in every case,” coroner Barb McLintock told the National Post when more feet washed up in 2016. “There’s none that have any suggestion of homicide [...] in every case there is an alternate, very reasonable explanation.”

When a body – from an accident or a suicide – is out at sea and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, it is quickly set upon by scavengers. Scavengers like crustaceans are lazy feeders and will prefer to tackle the softer parts of the body than the tough gristly bits. On humans, the soft parts include our ankles, which are mainly soft tissue and ligaments. Chew away at this, and the foot will detach pretty quickly before any major decomposition has set in. The bodies went down whole, the feet were detached by fish.

As for why the phenomenon didn't really happen until 2007 (though there are sparse instances of feet washing up previous to this), that's where sneaker design comes in. Over the last few decades, sneakers have been made of lighter foam, as well as including air pockets in the soles.

“It really didn’t come up until we had running shoes that floated so well,” McLintock said. “Before, they just stayed down there at the bottom of the ocean.”

Source: The Mystery Of Why Human Feet Keep Washing Ashore In The US And Canada Has Been Solved | IFLScience
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This is exactly how I explained it years ago.
 
Mentioned as a Sideline in FT 417:

Grimsby dismembered foot woman still unidentified​

News story

(from 2020)

Like the headline says, the foot of a woman was found in April 2019, "near an old railway track". Nobody has claimed it, DNA is inconclusive, could someone be hopping around too embarrassed to admit their foot came off or is the reality far grimmer? I can't find any updates in the past two years, so presumably it's still a mystery.
 
GNC said:
... I can't find any updates in the past two years, so presumably it's still a mystery.
Click to expand...

Here are two updates from the local newspaper, but yes - it's still a mystery.

Severed foot found on path remains a mystery two years on
14 Feb 2021
https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/gruesome-severed-foot-found-path-4939143

Police issue 'strange request' in hunt for owner of foot found in New Waltham
14 Jul 2021
https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/police-issue-strange-request-hunt-5652952
 
Thanks for that. All I can think of is it's medical waste, but I don't even know if there's a hospital that does amputations nearby. Doesn't have to be, I suppose. Might even be a sick joke?
 
GNC said:
Mentioned as a Sideline in FT 417:

Grimsby dismembered foot woman still unidentified​

News story

(from 2020)

Like the headline says, the foot of a woman was found in April 2019, "near an old railway track". Nobody has claimed it, DNA is inconclusive, could someone be hopping around too embarrassed to admit their foot came off or is the reality far grimmer? I can't find any updates in the past two years, so presumably it's still a mystery.
Click to expand...

Get HMRC to check their files for locals with no visible means of support.

maximus otter
 
A decade after they were discovered, two severed legs haven't been identified in what remains a cold Montana homicide case.
Severed legs mystery in Butte remains unsolved

It was a late Sunday afternoon on June 26, 2012, when a father and son were out hiking just a few miles north of Butte. As the two turned near the Moulton Reservoir Road, they came upon a plastic bag. Peering inside, the two made a gruesome discovery — a pair of human legs with pants, socks and boots intact.

Ten years have come and gone and the case of the severed legs is still shrouded in mystery. Who was the victim? Was he from Butte or nearby? Where was the rest of the body? Those questions remain unanswered.

“At this point, nothing is known — his identity or where he was from,” said Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff Ed Lester.
B-SB’s sheriff in 2012, John Walsh, called the discovery bizarre and disturbing. “In all my years I’ve never seen anything like this,” he told a Montana Standard reporter 10 years ago.

Even though a decade has passed, officials have about as many clues as they did back then. They only know with certainty that the legs, severed just below the groin, belonged to an adult white male. Because of the condition of the legs, investigators believed the victim had been killed sometime during that month.
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://missoulian.com/news/state-a...cle_b9b69997-e872-5389-a3eb-ff53b408c360.html
 
A partial foot in a shoe was found floating in a Yellowstone Park hot spring.
Part of a foot, in a shoe, spotted in Yellowstone hot spring

Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating after a park employee spotted part of a foot, in a shoe, floating in a hot spring in the southern part of the park ...

Tuesday's discovery at Abyss Pool led to the temporary closure of the West Thumb Geyser Basin and its parking lot. The area has since reopened.

The park did not have any other information about the investigation to make public on Thursday ...

Abyss Pool, located west of the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, is 53 feet (16 meters) deep and the temperature is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 Celsius), park officials said. It is on the south side of the southern loop through the park. ...
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.wltx.com/article/news/n...ring/507-5fdbf382-23e9-43d2-8751-717fa6ebd78e
 
The temperature of the water in the Abyss pool will cause third-degree burns in less than 10 seconds. Someone went in, fell in, or was pushed in. They are dead and boiled. The shoe floats after the body falls apart. This has happened several times before in the various hot springs in the park.
 
Sharon Hill said:
The temperature of the water in the Abyss pool will cause third-degree burns in less than 10 seconds. Someone went in, fell in, or was pushed in. They are dead and boiled. The shoe floats after the body falls apart. This has happened several times before in the various hot springs in the park.
Click to expand...
My father-in-law once washed his leg in a volcanic spring, it peeled the skin straight off his leg in seconds, a very nasty burn.
 
EnolaGaia said:
A partial foot in a shoe was found floating in a Yellowstone Park hot spring.
Click to expand...

Update ... Yellowstone officials have issued a statement saying they believe the discovered foot was related to an incident that occurred on 31 July. They gave no other information about that incident or its connection to the foot.
Foot floating in a Yellowstone hot spring leaves more questions than answers

A foot found floating in a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park has been linked to a July 31 death.

On Aug. 16, a park employee found the foot, still encased in a shoe, in Abyss Pool, one of the deepest hot springs in Yellowstone. In a statement today (Aug. 19), authorities said that the foot is linked to an incident involving a single individual on the morning of July 31 and that they do not suspect foul play. They did not elaborate on why they do not suspect foul play, nor did they identify the person who died. An investigation is ongoing. ...
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/yellowstone-hot-spring-foot
 
Sharon Hill said:
The temperature of the water in the Abyss pool will cause third-degree burns in less than 10 seconds. Someone went in, fell in, or was pushed in. They are dead and boiled. The shoe floats after the body falls apart. This has happened several times before in the various hot springs in the park.
Click to expand...

Does it mention this in the Tourist Board’s pamphlet?

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
Does it mention this in the Tourist Board’s pamphlet?

maximus otter
Click to expand...
I think it's pretty clear on "Do NOT enter the hot springs" and "Stay on the trails".
Recommended Book: Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park by L. Whittlesey (though it needs an update, obviously).

71zdrwo1y+S.jpeg
 
EnolaGaia said:
Update ... Yellowstone officials have issued a statement saying they believe the discovered foot was related to an incident that occurred on 31 July. They gave no other information about that incident or its connection to the foot.

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/yellowstone-hot-spring-foot
Click to expand...

Foot found floating in Yellowstone hot spring identified as that of 70-year-old LA man​


A partial foot inside a shoe found floating in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring in August has been identified to be that of a 70-year-old California man.

It remains unclear how Il Hun Ro, from Los Angeles, ended up in the Abyss Pool but investigators said they don't suspect foul play.

Park staff found Ro's foot in the park's West Thumb Geyser Basin in August but said that whatever happened to the 70-year-old took place on July 31.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...e-hot-pool-identified-70-year-old-LA-man.html

maximus otter
 
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