For the 11th time in the past four years, a human foot in a sport shoe was found on a Pacific Northwest shoreline.
Foot No. 11 was found Tuesday near a marina in an inlet called False Creek, police in Vancouver, British Columbia, said. Foul play was not suspected because there was no sign of trauma, coroner Stephen Fonseca said in a report from CNN affiliate CBC.
“These human remains did not show any evidence of trauma whatsoever,” CBC quoted Fonseca as saying.
DNA samples from foot No. 11 will be compared to DNA obtained from family members in missing persons cases to try to establish an identity, he said.
So who do the feet belong to and how did they meet their demise?
One foot, found in August 2007 on Jedediah Island, British Columbia, was identified as coming from a deceased man whose family did not want further details released, according to a report in the Vancouver Sun.
But the rest remain a mystery, according to a list in the Vancouver Sun.
Mark Mendelson, a Toronto forensics consultant and former police detective, said on the TV program "Canada AM" on Thursday that he's not buying that anything nefarious is, well, afoot.
"You have to think dirty," he said.
"I don't know if you can look at this as just a coincidence," he said, pointing out that he thinks there are too many questions that don't have logical answers.
"Why is it only happening on the west coast near Vancouver… why aren’t these feet floating up off Nova Scotia or St. John’s, Newfoundland, or off the coast of New Jersey," Mendelson asked.
And why only feet in running shoes?
Where are the rest of the body parts?
“Body parts do eventually make their way to the surface. So why are we only getting feet? Why are they in running shoes,” he asked.
Simon Fraser University forensics researcher Gail Anderson offers answers in areport on the website vancouver.24hrs.ca.
“We have an awful lot of people missing in our waters, either from accidental cases or people who deliberately entered the water,” the website quotes Anderson as saying. “We’re talking four years and 11 feet. That’s really not that many at all.”
And if the shoe floats?
University of British Columbia materials engineering professor Anoush Poursartip tells vancouver.24hrs he has a theory on that.
“The polymers used in running shoes are chosen partially for their light weight. This means the shoe has significant buoyancy,” he told the website.
So the shoes are dragging the feet to the surface but leaving the rest of the body in the depths?
“I’m not sure I buy the theory it’s because the shoe floats,” Mendelson said in the "Canada AM" interview.
But one thing is certain, Mendelson said.
"Something is very, very strange here.”
