3rd right foot washes up on BC beach

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Three severed right feet have washed ashore on the Gulf Islands in British Columbia over the past six months, raising suspicions of foul play. The latest foot was discovered on Valdes Island, still in a sneaker, and authorities are investigating potential links to missing-person cases. Previous feet found on Gabriola and Jedediah islands were also in size 12 men's sneakers, but DNA tests have failed to match them to any individuals in police databases. The unusual nature of the discoveries has led to various theories, including the possibility of a serial killer or other criminal activity. Some participants in the discussion speculate about the feet being washed ashore due to natural causes or even medical waste disposal, while others humorously suggest that the feet might belong to a peculiar predator or a bizarre hoax. Despite the light-hearted banter, the underlying concern about the potential for foul play remains prominent in the conversation.
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A cop says it's "usual" & I can't say I disagree. I wouldn't be surprised if there actually is foul play somehow.

Third right foot discovered in Gulf Islands

Latest foot found on Valdes Island; police not sure if foul play is involved

Rob Shaw, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, February 15, 2008

Three severed right feet have washed ashore on the Gulf Islands in the past six months, in what police say is one of the most bizarre cases in recent memory.

The latest foot, still in its sneaker, was found last Friday on Valdes Island, a small community near Nanaimo that does not have regular ferry service and is accessible only by private boat or float plane.

RCMP say they're not sure whether foul play is involved and are trying to match any missing-person cases to the severed foot.

Two other right feet, both in size 12 men's sneakers, washed ashore on Gabriola and Jedediah islands last August. RCMP collected DNA from the grisly remains but could not match them to anyone in police databases. The three islands are within 60 kilometres of each other.
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d83cf5c8-437d-4586-8289-a763ee0b5738&k=58864
 
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fourier jr said:
Since Canada is full of serial killers & pedophiles

But the Fat Man said it's such a peaceful place! Nobody needs guns and you all keep your front doors unlocked!
 
It's rather hard to imagine a scenario NOT involving foul play that would result in a bunch of right feet washing ashore, unless Canada has a lot of one-legged boaters hopping around.
 
Maybe a medical waste company has found a disposal method that's cheaper than incineration?
 
lisab said:
Maybe a medical waste company has found a disposal method that's cheaper than incineration?
They were all wearing sneakers?
 
Could be a really fussy shark. More likely some foul play going on.
 
Evo said:
They were all wearing sneakers?

Yeah, good point. Probably not a medical-waste-and-sneaker disposal company.
 
Since when did sharks become picky eaters?
 
That area is home to the world's largest octopus - the Pacific Octopus. They ARE picky eaters, and do not like sneakers. Especially Nike. :smile:
 
  • #10
It dosent say if they are male or female feet, that's interesting. I'm sure DNA testing is well on the way, but you can learn a lot about a person by their feet.
 
  • #11
hypatia said:
It dosent say if they are male or female feet, that's interesting. I'm sure DNA testing is well on the way, but you can learn a lot about a person by their feet.
Two were wearing size 12 men's sneakers.
 
  • #12
It's also interesting that a serial killer would attack men; most unfortunately take advantage of the difference in strength between men and women.

Many serial killers are narcissists, though, so I can totally believe that one would "plant" these feet in order to become "famous" in the media.

- Warren
 
  • #13
chroot said:
It's also interesting that a serial killer would attack men; most unfortunately take advantage of the difference in strength between men and women.

Many serial killers are narcissists, though, so I can totally believe that one would "plant" these feet in order to become "famous" in the media.

- Warren

It's true that women end up victims of serial killers more often then men, but I don't think that's because of the strength advantage. I think it's deep, strongly held misogyny.

I believe that because very often, the serial killer sexually assaults his victims as part of the attack, and misogyny is the root cause of rape.
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
unless Canada has a lot of one-legged boaters hopping around.

If they didn't before, they do now.
 
  • #15
Maybe there is a psycho med student at the UW School of Medicine. There was one at CMDNJ who stole a left hand from a cadaver and mailed it to his ex-girlfriend.

Other than getting him expelled, I don't see what that accomplished...
 
  • #16
Wait. This means the perpetrator, if there is one, now has at least three left feet.

If he wants to play one-upmanship, he can say he has three left feet. When somebody laughs, he can go over to a desk and say, "And I keep them here". When some foolish person calls him on it, he can open the drawer, and voila! One quick trip to jail. (He failed to think about the last part.)
 
  • #17
jim mcnamara said:
Maybe there is a psycho med student at the UW School of Medicine. There was one at CMDNJ who stole a left hand from a cadaver and mailed it to his ex-girlfriend.

Other than getting him expelled, I don't see what that accomplished...
She probably complained that he never gave her a hand.
 
  • #18
jim mcnamara said:
Wait. This means the perpetrator, if there is one, now has at least three left feet.

Police should focus their attention on suspects who don't like dancing. Maybe they can ask the public to submit information on people with two left feet.
 
  • #19
A possibility that just crossed my mind... What if the left foot is encased in concrete? But that doesn't explain why other parts aren't washing ashore.
 
  • #20
It's not mine, I have both, just checked.

How bizarre. Maybe someone has some sort of mutilation fetish? Or could just be your run of the mill psycho.
 
  • #21
It is obvious the other feet were left so they would only find right feet.
 
  • #22
I knew it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. I'll bet the sneakers were Puma's. Puma's are carnivores.
 
  • #23
wolram said:
It is obvious the other feet were left so they would only find right feet.

Do you think he's hoarding left feet, that's quite sinister. :wink:

Worst joke of the day, I think so.
 
  • #24
Schrodinger's Dog said:
Worst joke of the day, I think so.

I don't know, Evo's is pretty bad as well.
 
  • #25
tribdog said:
I don't know, Evo's is pretty bad as well.


That was yesterdays worst joke. :-p
 
  • #26
I also half to wonder if the feet in the size 12 mens sneekers, actually fit them.
 
  • #27
Thinking about it again it could have been a trio of method actors that were due to appear in a theatrical production of "My Left Foot" who hadn't read the script before hastily getting into character.
 
  • #28
hypatia said:
I also half to wonder if the feet in the size 12 mens sneekers, actually fit them.

That's a good question. If they do, my first suspects would be salesmen in shoestores. I'm not sure how many other ways there are to stalk victims all with the same size shoe (though I suppose it could be chance)...maybe in bowling alleys where shoe size is stamped on the rental shoes for all to see?

If the rest of the body isn't washing ashore, I would hazard the guess that the rest of the body isn't disposed of in the same place as the feet.
 
  • #29
Kurdt said:
Thinking about it again it could have been a trio of method actors that were due to appear in a theatrical production of "My Left Foot" who hadn't read the script before hastily getting into character.

I yield the floor, todays worst joke. :smile:
 
  • #31
Has any of the investigators mentioned how the feet appear to have been severed? by cutting, sawing, breaking... any bite marks?
 
  • #32
The link in the OP didn't say much about how they were severed. If they'd been in the water a while, it might be hard to tell. I guess the shoe provides enough protection that the foot doesn't get eaten.
 
  • #33
I guess it's safe to say that something fishy is afoot.
 
  • #34
B. Elliott said:
Has any of the investigators mentioned how the feet appear to have been severed? by cutting, sawing, breaking... any bite marks?
They said no sign of "forcible" removal of the foot. Apparently, they're considering the possibility that the feet are just popping off of their own free will or something. :confused:

morphism said:
I guess it's safe to say that something fishy is afoot.

<<<<<<<<groan>>>>>>>> :rolleyes:
 
  • #35
lisab said:
I think it's deep, strongly held misogyny.

I believe that because very often, the serial killer sexually assaults his victims as part of the attack, and misogyny is the root cause of rape.
People don't rape people because they hate them. Men don't rape men in prison because they hate them. People rape people because they can't control their want to feel powerful.
 
  • #36
It's a bit more complicated than that, but I highly doubt it is misogyny.
 
  • #37
Mk said:
People don't rape people because they hate them. Men don't rape men in prison because they hate them. People rape people because they can't control their want to feel powerful.

Yes, power is certainly in the mix. But wouldn't there need to be some extreme hate, too?

There are lots of circumstances a person wants to control another person -- anyone who is a parent knows that feeling (trying to control a toddler is especially challenging!). But a simple need to control doesn't go anywhere a compulsion to rape.

(I'm going to have to review this thread to remember how a discussion about finding feet ended up as a discussion on the root cause of rape!)
 
  • #38
A forth foot was found yesterday, or did someone already mention that.

VICTORIA, British Columbia, May 23 (UPI) -- A severed human foot in a shoe was found on the Pacific shore of a British Columbia island, the fourth in less than a year, Canadian police said.

RCMP Cpl. Nycki Basra said the incident is being treated as suspicious and will be compared for similarities with the first three feet by members of the Richmond RCMP Serious Crime Unit and the B.C. Coroners Office.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/23/fourth_foot_in_a_year_washes_ashore/8283/
 
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  • #39
Wonder if there are other feet that haven't been found or beached yet?
 
  • #40
lisab said:
Yes, power is certainly in the mix. But wouldn't there need to be some extreme hate, too?

Doubt it. When someone slips a girl a roofie, it's not because he hates her, it's because he wants to get in her pants.

Most rapes happen between something like boyfriend/girlfriend, right? I don't think two people would get to that status if one hated the other.

Maybe a sociopath similar to a serial killer would rape because of misogyny, but your average one-time rape is probably because the guy couldn't control himself. Just like most murderers aren't repeat offenders and are pretty spur-of-the-moment.

The misogyny line comes in with so-called feminists* who are actually misandrists.

There are lots of circumstances a person wants to control another person -- anyone who is a parent knows that feeling (trying to control a toddler is especially challenging!). But a simple need to control doesn't go anywhere a compulsion to rape.

No, of course not. Therefore if a person simply wanted to control another person, it doesn't automatically imply rape. Of course, it can, too. Just that I don't think it's the root cause in every rape.

*Ugh feminazis. You know, feminists have a real goal they are striving for that anybody who had a modicum of intelligence should support. And then you have feminazis like this:

http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html (Swearing)

Read the comments if you don't get the article because you don't watch the show.
 
  • #41
Moonbear said:
They said no sign of "forcible" removal of the foot. Apparently, they're considering the possibility that the feet are just popping off of their own free will or something. :confused:

Definitely doesn't make me feel any better about those morning aches and pains.:rolleyes:
 
  • #42
Poop-Loops said:
Most rapes happen between something like boyfriend/girlfriend, right?

I don't know. Have you got any statistics?
 
  • #44
cristo said:
I don't know. Have you got any statistics?
Secondary source: http://www.paralumun.com/issuesrapestats.htm

Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994)
 
  • #45
Maybe somebody is trying to send a message. - A kind of footnote.
 
  • #46
The silly puns are getting completely out of hand! I'm going to go out on a limb here - all you shoddy punsters ought to be booted out of this thread.
 
  • #47
Sixth foot was discovered. Weird heh.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7463305.stm

When two unrelated human feet washed up on the beaches of two small islands north of Vancouver in six days last August, a spokesman for the Mounties said the odds of it happening were a million to one. This week the number of feet found rose to six.


They were all encased in trainers, and five out of the six are right feet. Police say the first five feet do not appear to have been severed, which could rule out foul play.

DNA has been collected from the first feet, but police say that there has been no match to anyone on their missing persons database.
 
  • #48
They have 6 unmatching feet and they think they can somehow rule out foul play just because they weren't cut off? Where exactly do they think the rest of the body is? Unless that river is frequently flooding a graveyard, there are 6 bodies somewhere with missing feet, and if the feet weren't cut off and are still in sneakers (i.e., this isn't some medical waste disposal company taking a short cut with disposing of amputated feet from a hospital), how exactly does any of that rule out foul play? Did they really think someone was just cutting off people's feet and leaving them otherwise alive? Maybe the feet are becoming detached after decomposition rather than being cut off, but that still means there's a dead body it's become detached from. :confused: Perhaps it's time for them to bring in some real investigators? It doesn't sound like they have the brightest bunch working on this case if that's what they truly think.
 
  • #50
A foot hating beaver. That'll give the evolutionary biologists a headache.
 
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