Severed foot in running shoe found in Canada belonged to missing Washington man

Reports of shoes containing severed feet being found on coastal beaches in the Pacific Northwest have been in the media for more than a decade. Perhaps some (or even most) of these have logical explanations such as boating accidents, but MAYBE it is something sinister? I picture some gangster threatening to cut off an underling's Nike for sneaking a peek at his significant other's behind (gosh, yoga-pants can make anyone go crazy, right?).

Salish Sea Feet Since August 20, 2007, several detached human feet have been discovered on the coasts of the Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, US. In December 2017, the Guardian reported "In the past dozen cases, the provincial coroner’s office has ruled out foul play... All of the individuals either killed themselves or died accidentally, with their feet naturally coming apart from their bodies during decomposition, said the coroner. ... The ubiquitous presence of running shoes might explain some of the mystery; made with light but durable materials, the shoes both protect the foot from decomposition and act as a flotation device that pulls it to the surface

One shoe/foot found on a beach in Canada has been identified as having once belonged to a man from Washington State:
SOURCE ARTICLE

Authorities say a severed foot in a running shoe found on a Vancouver Island beach belonged to a Washington man. The Seattle Times reports 79-year-old Stanley Okumoto had been missing since Sept. 19. His partial remains were found in November along a beach near Neah Bay, about a mile from where his car was found by authorities. It was the 13th severed foot to mysteriously wash up in British Columbia since 2007, according to the New York Times.

A tibia and fibula attached to a left human foot with a white ankle sock in a black running shoe was found in December on a Vancouver Island beach in the hamlet of Jordan River. The Sooke Royal Canadian Mounted Police sent the leg to the coroners’ service. DNA testing confirmed that the foot and leg belonged to Okumoto, according to CTV News. The rest of Okumoto’s body was found two months later, intact apart from the missing limb. The medical examiner didn’t release further details in the case.

What do you think? Makes sense that a shoe would help preserve a limb, and that limbs might fall off during decomposition. Still, the whole thing is kinda creepy. Any theories as to what might be responsible for these finds? I'm particularly interested in any tin-foil hat explanations!

I'm going to have to go back through my posts.

A number of years back there were feet being found all over - some still in the sneakers/shoes.

I can't remember what it was all about but now I have to go find out and see if it's related.

Thanks for the reminder - though I wish it was under better circumstance.

Poor guy.


After four years, why are more feet washing ashore in British Columbia?

British Columbia, Canada is known for many things: beautiful landscapes, great skiing, the 2010 Winter Olympics – and the human feet that have been washing up on its shores for the last nine years.

Since 2007, 12 human feet clad in running shoes have been found on the shores of British Columbia, from Jedediah Island to Botanical Beach. So far, the provincial coroner’s office has identified eight of the 12. Of those eight, there were two pairs. The remaining lone feet, the coroner determined, belonged to men.

I can't find the thread I was refering to but still looking.

a reply to: seattlerat

The reasoning makes sense but it makes me wonder why no feet wash up on the East Coast, or in Southern California, etc.. I've lived near the Atlantic Ocean my entire life (50 yrs) and never heard of a foot washing up on the Cape or any where else. Just strange.

a reply to: seattlerat

'Dis articulated'...weird for sure.
Where's the other one then?
Are their mates ever found?

a reply to: TNMockingbird

I was wondering the same thing.

This one has always creeped me out! I'm inclined to believe a serial killer may be a possible scenario or even organized crime with some accidents and suicides sprinkled in.

Discovery of Human Foot on Seattle Waterfront Adds to Appendage Tally

The discovery of a human foot in a running shoe on the Seattle waterfront this week is at least the 15th such appendage found along the Pacific Northwest coastline since 2007.

The human foot in a white New Balance tennis shoe was found Tuesday morning on the shore at Centennial Park, just north of downtown, by volunteers cleaning the park, Port of Seattle spokesman Peter McGraw told NBC News. The foot was turned over to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office for further investigation.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday released a photo of the shoe – a New Balance athletic sneaker, men’s size 10-1/2, white with blue trim – in hopes the public could help identify its wearer. It said the foot also was clad in a black, cotton Hanes brand sock. Though the shoe was a men’s style model that first became available in April 2008, it said “the sex, age, ancestry and stature of the individual are not known.”

The mystery of the disarticulated feet first gained a toehold in the public consciousness when a young girl from Washington state found a badly decomposed human foot on Aug. 7, 2007, on a beach on Jedediah Island, in Canada’s British Columbia province. The foot, that of a man, was wearing a size 12 Adidas running shoe.

Sounds 'serial like' to me...

Bodies wind up in the water from suicides, accidents, and murders. Eventually the bodies decompose and break apart. The shoe being buoyant floats to the surface ans eventually winds up on shore. It's a pretty obvious explanation.

The "How Stuff Works" show on NPR did a show about it a couple of years ago.

How on Earth do can they say that most of these deaths were self-inflicted? Have the severed feet talked to the medical examiners?

My bet is that this is illegals trying to sneak into the country one body part at a time.

a reply to: PistolPete

Then why aren't feet washing up all over the place?

A common percentage of suicides, accidents, and murders happen near any body of water. Why just this section of BC?

There are plenty of places on the planet with favorable currents and dead folks wearing sneakers.

a reply to: ABNARTY

There's theories that some of the feet are coming via current from tsunami victims. Several of the feet have been identified as coming from people that have committed suicide in that area.

They're always in running shoes because they float.

That area is highly populated by Seattle and Vancouver. I suppose there's thousands of miles uninhabited coastline that feet could be washing up on that no one ever sees.

originally posted by: TobyFlenderson
a reply to: seattlerat

The reasoning makes sense but it makes me wonder why no feet wash up on the East Coast, or in Southern California, etc.. I've lived near the Atlantic Ocean my entire life (50 yrs) and never heard of a foot washing up on the Cape or any where else. Just strange.

it is strange. i've been living on Jekyll Island, southeast GA most of my life and we never get any shoes with feet washed up here, either. gators eat everything, though. anybody dead in the water won't last long here. i've heard the only things alligators can't digest are heavier metals like gold , silver, and brass

Yeah that's the thing, if you check out currents, the ocean currents from all over the Pacific hit the shore in that spot, if it was say cartel bodies, they would all float south and out to sea, but Japan and Alaska's current converges right at that point.

It looks like the only place that in the US that takes a direct hit, the currents all the way up the east coast flow off shore to the north with a purpose.

I bet there are a ton of shoes found that the crabs already cleaned out, and are ignored like discarded shoes.

crrreeeeepppy

Nasty stuff.

I would guess it is related to ocean currents:

upload.wikimedia.org...

On the North-West coast, the currents either push into the Bay of Alaska or down into California. On the other side of the USA, everything gets pulled out towards the UK and Europe. Because the Bay is a curved hollow shape, and waves usually hit the shore at an angle, there is a greater chance that something is going to end washed ashore.

a reply to: PistolPete

I appreciate the favorable currents on that part of the coast. And I appreciate sneakers float.

But don't you find it a bit peculiar that is the only place known for this? Especially when the majority of humanity lives on or near the coasts of the oceans. How many thousands of people worldwide are lost at sea every year?

I am just speculating but if it's simply a matter of the person wearing sneakers and a decent current, de-bodied feet would be washing up on shorelines all over the place.

Living on Vancouver island, I've heard of all the feet in shoes washing up on our shores over the years and always pictured some sick twist killing joggers/runners in specific, chopping off their feet and dumping them in the ocean...

Many people go missing all the time, suicide, falling off boats. It would make sense as their body decomposes over time the ankle breaks from the foot, the bouyant running shoe floats to the top, washes ashore.

Also, how the ocean currents flow would seem to be why we get a heavy concentration of these feet, as others have pointed out!

Still pretty creepy and hope to never find a foot in a shoe on one of our beautiful beaches.

a reply to: silo13

I can attest to said thread. When i saw this thread i thought, "Hmmm...thats familiar"

originally posted by: PistolPete
a reply to: ABNARTY

There's theories that some of the feet are coming via current from tsunami victims. Several of the feet have been identified as coming from people that have committed suicide in that area.

They're always in running shoes because they float.

That area is highly populated by Seattle and Vancouver. I suppose there's thousands of miles uninhabited coastline that feet could be washing up on that no one ever sees.

And on the bottom of the ocean!

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Yeah that's the thing, if you check out currents, the ocean currents from all over the Pacific hit the shore in that spot, if it was say cartel bodies, they would all float south and out to sea, but Japan and Alaska's current converges right at that point.

It looks like the only place that in the US that takes a direct hit, the currents all the way up the east coast flow off shore to the north with a purpose.

I bet there are a ton of shoes found that the crabs already cleaned out, and are ignored like discarded shoes.

crrreeeeepppy

Nasty stuff.

dang. wverytime i see a lost shoe on the beach that's what i'm gonna think of. crabs eating dead people

a reply to: seattlerat

The thing is this case is different from most of the others because they found the rest of him. So it sounds like just his one foot was severed?!...sounds like a serial killer the media is trying to downplay to me!