RCMP in British Columbia now have an international mystery on their hands, after a foot washed ashore in Washington state.
The black low-top athletic shoe was discovered by Jim Shay, who was camping on a beach, about an hour west of Port Angeles.
"There was a shoe with a sock in it, and some bones and some flesh in it," recalled Shay.
It was only weeks after CTV News reported that a body with no feet was found on the San Juan Islands -- but authorities aren't connecting that body and foot so far.
Instead, they're looking to Canada, where five feet have been found along the shores of the Georgia Strait since August 2007.
"I thought we'd better be talking to the RCMP up in Canada, because our initial blush was that this was related,'' said Ron Perrigrin of the Clallam County Sheriff's Dept. .
The shoe sizes vary, as do the brands. Most have been right feet. Only one is a woman's shoe, and only in one case have police found a pair.
The beach where this latest foot was found is still relatively close, geographically to the Canadian sites where the other feet have washed up.
In the case of the shoe found in the states, it too is designed for a right foot.
"Based on what we know about the foot found in Washington, it doesn't appear to be a match with any of the feet found in British Columbia so far,'' said RCMP spokesman Tim Shields.
This means it might provide closure to the case of a missing person.
Already one shoe was identified as having belonged to a man missing for about 12 months. And recently the shoes found in B.C. were publicly displayed in the hope that more might be recognized.
Pending verification that the Washington State discovery is in fact human, the case of the feet that have floated to shore, could have authorities on both sides of the border combing for clues to see if there is a link with earlier finds in Canada.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan
