Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More
On August 20, 2007, a family visiting from Washington was on a sailing trip through the Strait of Georgia near Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They eventually dropped anchor at Jedediah Island, eagerly anticipating the tranquility and beautiful nature that the island was sure to provide them. They arrived at the island and set up camp at one of the numerous beaches on the island.
A young daughter of the family started exploring around the beach, like kids do, and found a pile of sandy, water-logged shoes in the sand. She picked one of them up – a white and blue mesh Adidas size 12 running shoe – a right shoe – and started examining it. As she peeled open the sandy, wet sock that was still in the shoe, inside the sock was a severed human foot.
This gruesome discovery would be the first of 21 (and counting) detached human feet found over the next decade along the shores of the Pacific Northwest, many of which were still in socks and sneakers. The mystery continues, with the most recent discovery in January of 2019.
Salish Sea
Maps of feet found
Long Bay, Jedediah Island Marine Provincial Park
Nike trainer that washed ashore in British Columbia, containing a foot
Further links of interest
- https://medium.com/internet-archaeology/the-macabre-case-of-the-21-severed-feet-of-the-salish-sea-71209d372a8e
- https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/12/18/16777724/human-feet-beach-pacific-northwest-seattle-vancouver
- https://www.sciencealert.com/people-keep-finding-human-feet-on-the-shores-of-this-peaceful-canadian-province
- https://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/news/coroners-use-new-tool-to-crack-mystery-of-the-floating-feet-in-the-salish-sea/
- https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/a-14th-human-foot-this-one-in-a-hiking-boot-washes-ashore-in-canada/
