Human Foot Found in a Shoe

The RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service are investigating the remains of a right foot found inside a running shoe Tuesday on a beach in the city of Richmond, south of Vancouver.

The shoe was found near No. 6 Road and Triangle Road, close to the Massey Tunnel, which runs under the south arm of the Fraser River.

It is the seventh discovery of human remains in a shoe on the southern B.C. coastline since August 2007.

Another shoe was found containing similar material on a Washington state beach just south of B.C. in August 2008.

In this latest find, two men walking on the beach located what appeared to be a foot in a size eight and a half white Nike running shoe, according to an RCMP news release issued Wednesday.

Members of the Richmond RCMP, the Forensic Identification Section and the General Investigation Section attended the scene, and seized the shoe and its contents.

The remains were turned over to the B.C. Coroners Service, where a forensic autopsy was conducted and it was confirmed they were human, RCMP said.

The Police and Coroners Service use information on physical characteristics from exams by forensic pathologists and anthropologists, along with DNA analysis to build a profile to be used to determine identification.

Prior to this most recent discovery, authorities have been involved in the investigations of six feet in running shoes discovered along the B.C. coastline, police said.

This first was identified and associated to a deceased male. The two female feet found in Richmond were matched in December 2008. The two male feet found on Valdez Island and Westham Island were matched in July 2008, and the male right foot found on Gabriola Island in August 2007 remains unidentified, according to the RCMP release.

There has been no evidence to date to support foul play in relation to these discoveries, and it appears that all remains separated from the body through a natural process, police said. It isn't clear how the bodies got into the water.