Third Right Foot Found Near Vancouver Island

[Widow]

Third right foot washes ashore in six months
Updated: Thu Feb. 14 2008 16:48:21


It's the third right foot to wash up on B.C.'s shores in the past six months. And to make it even more sinister, there's been no left feet to match.

On February 8, a sneaker containing what appeared to be the remains of a right foot was found on the east side of Valdez Island.

Police seized the sneaker and turned it over to the B.C. Coroner's service for an investigation. Officers began reviewing their files to find out if any missing people might match the foot.

"It is not known at this time what relationship, if any, this foot has with the two feet recovered last year in the same area," said Cst. Annie Linteau of the RCMP. "Police have yet to determine if foul play is involved."

In September, a Vancouver couple came across a single white and black, size 12 Reebok shoe while walking along Gabriola Island. Inside was the grisly remains of a human right foot.

And that same week a Washington state family, visiting Jedidiah Island, also uncovered a human foot that had washed ashore. It was also from the right.

"Both are right feet so we know it's two people," Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Garry Cox told reporters at the time.

The discovery baffled police, who said that finding two feet within a relatively short distance of each other was very unlikely.

Police are asking anyone with information about the foot to contact Gabriola Island RCMP at 250-247-8333.

http://www.ctvbc.ca/servlet/an/local/CT ... lumbiaHome

From discussion on Five Deaths Demand Justice Petition thread:

"Remains" were found on the beach on Jedediah Is. in August this summer - was that related?

A man's size 12 right foot/shoe was found on Jedediah, and about a week later another mans size 12 right foot/shoe was found further south ... and since this was so soon after Kevin had been dragging the bottom we wondered - certainly the currents could carry that way - someone lost from Quadra had previously turned up around Parksville ... but no one ever took DNA from the four missing men, and although we contacted our RCMP officer we have heard nothing.

This whole incident seems fraught with a lack of committed investigation.
Maybe I have watched too many CSI episodes on TV, but surely DNA samples from relatives should have been done by now.
Did the RCMP ask family how the victims were dressed that fateful day?
Have they asked what brand sneakers the various men owned?

My conversations with the other families indicate that the RCMP never asked for details of how the a/c occupants were dressed. I, like you snaproll20, would have expected them to take DNA samples when the men were declared missing persons ... it would seem that if remains turn up, they should be able to attempt identification BEFORE contacting family members.

Indeed, the investigation by all parties has been disjointed at best. The original RCMP officer on the case left the area at the same time the wreck was recovered ... taking with him all his personal insights and instincts brought up in the early investigation.

Even the original coroner was transferred to the Child Death review ... her instincts about Dave's cause of death and questions about how/why he was left to drown seem irrelevant to the "new" coroner.

Perhaps some of these things will be questioned publically with the upcoming W-Five update into this story ... they were here last week doing interviews for the follow-up. You can be sure I will let you all know when the episode is scheduled for airing!

No one has yet requested DNA samples, although we have asked that they be collected. Really, we can't help but wonder ...

Really, really creepy, whatever is up.

[SkyWolfe]

Wow thats totally creepy

[Uncle Leo]

Wasn't that what Regency Express was charging a few years back to fly their Navajos? That crook's wallet probably just fell in the ocean.

[HuD 91gt]

No, your mistaken, people were giving their left nut for a seat.

[2R]

A friend of mine used to joke that the Bad guys were dumping bodies way too close to his prawn traps again .
As the prawns were getting HUGE .

[clubzed]

"Both are right feet so we know it's two people," Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Garry Cox told reporters at the time.

Priceless!!!

[Guido]

"Both are right feet so we know it's two people," Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Garry Cox told reporters at the time.

Priceless!!!

If they ever pick up two left feet, someone check that I'm still alive, ok?

[Widow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7ElCj-fJV8

[5400AirportRdSouth]

We were talking about this today, my personal theory, is that these are bodies being dumped, wrapped in tarps and secured with chains to hold some kind of weights onto the " package ".

The natural securing location for the chain on the bottom end of the roll, would be the ankle, as the foot would give you a natural hook. Once the bloating, ocean currents and scavengers have at it, the feet are getting loose below the chain, while the rest of the package is still on the bottom.

The runners are providing the positive flotation to get them moving once loose.

The heads would likely come loose next, as the neck would be the best cinch on the other end, but I'm not sure how much bouyancy would be left in a severed head.

I only hope these are fellow low lifes culling the herd, instead of any type of innocent victims. Most innocent people tend to get reported missing, if you're a scumbag, few care when you're gone.

5400

[Expat]

This is a good theory, but there is another one:
Talibans cut hands and feet as punishment for sins. But normally they hang these parts at the mosque. May be they are underground Talibs operating on the left coast???

[2R]

Maybe it is Jimmy Hoffa or a close relative ???
After all they never found him in Bolgers graveyard in Nova Scotia .

[Doc]

Ah HA! The search for the prick who takes all the single socks from my dryer narrows!

[Widow]

Look at where we were dragging and where the feet turned up. Tell me that four men at the bottom of the Channel aren't eventually going to start to turn up - in bits and pieces, and that it isn't a logical progression to think these feet might belong to Doug, or Arnie, or Trevor or Fabian. The RCMP and the Coroner Service, just like every other organization with an obligation to reach conclusions about the C-GAQW crash, have played the "ignore them and they'll go away" game. If none of these feet do belong to these four men, rest assured, sooner or later a body part will turn up that does belong to one of them.

[5400AirportRdSouth]

Widow,

Do you know if any of the relatives of these men have been contacted to provide ( or have already provided ) DNA samples to check against these feet?

Absolutely outrageous if they have not.. ( I am assuming there would be enough DNA material for a test, and that an immediate blood relative could provide a means to match against? )

PS - I didn't even consider your situation, and I hope I didn't offend with my comments...

PPS - Doc, same bastard hit my place too. I've got a nice little blind set up behind the #2 washer in our building, me, the long iron and a bottle of Jim Beam are goin' huntin tonight.

[Widow]

5400, no offense taken. If it weren't for it being personal, I'd probably make jokes about it too.

To answer your question, I speak to family members of each of the missing men daily. None of them have been contacted to provide DNA. The pilot has no blood relatives (he was adopted), but his sister has retained various items (hairbrush, toothbrush, etc.) which may still be able to provide DNA for sampling.

As the family "spokesperson", our calls were returned by local RCMP on Friday. They were going to "get the file". I will be talking to the regional coroner (I hope) tomorrow anyway, as I've been told by the Ombudsman of Justice to expect an apology for their lack of communication with us.

[2R]

There was something in the last budget about new CSI type labs for the RCMP .
Are they up and running yet ???
You think they would want to use the new equipment if they got it

[Widow]

I've been informed by the regional coroner that they are NOW setting up a DNA database for missing persons. Seems someone forgot to collect DNA when Arnie et al. were declared missing. The coroner has apologized.

[Widow]

Fourth severed foot washes ashore
This time foot is found on island at mouth of Fraser River

Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, May 22, 2008

A fourth human foot in a shoe has been found, this time on an island in the Fraser River.

Richmond RCMP confirmed late Thursday afternoon that a team of investigators has been flown to Kirkland Island after a person walking there reported finding the foot on the shore around noon.

The grisly discovery adds to a growing mystery on the West Coast about how severed feet are showing up in a number of locations along the Strait of Georgia.

Since last August feet encased in shoes have washed up on Gabriola, Jedediah and most recently in February on Valdes Island south of Gabriola.

The mysteries have created an international media stir and Richmond Cpl. Nycki Basra confirmed yesterday that her telephone was "going nuts" after word was out that a fourth foot has been found.

Basra said the discovery of the remains will be treated as suspicious until "we can prove otherwise." The RCMP will also look at the other three files "to see if there is any relationship."

Basra could not confirm what kind of shoe was on the recently discovered foot or whether it was a left or right foot.

The previously discovered feet were all right.

Speculation has been rampant around the feet with some saying they are the result of criminal activities and other theorists pointing to still-missing plane crash and drowning victims.

http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ ... 275240fe4a

[C23flyer]

What about predatory animals i.e. orca or grizzly bear? Anyone know the table manners of these mammals, whether they might prey on unsuspecting kayakers, swimmers, or hikers? Hiking near a stream when the salmon are spawning might get you in trouble with a bear. Might the animal find the foot an unappetizing part of the meal? Just another possible angle. Or I could just be a biology idiot. Have they indicated the nature by which the feet were severed?

[Widow]

At least two of the feet were disarticulated, meaning that they detached due to decomposition.

What disturbs me most, is that the three original feet have not yet (as far as I or the press know) been matched to a missing person. How do three (now four) people go missing and no one know, or there be no DNA to compare? Knowing as I do that the DNA registry in the province has only just begun to be set up, despite what should have happened following the Picton farm discoveries, it doesn't make one very confident in the officials. Hell, I have no confidence in any officials anymore.

[Widow]

Anyone seen the news coverage of this? They are making it all about "us".

A-Channel coverage.

CTV coverage.

CBC, Globe&Mail to follow.

Severed feet could belong to B.C. plane crash victims: families
Bal Brach , Canwest News Service
Published: 37 minutes ago

Four severed right feet that have washed ashore along the B.C. coast might belong to the victims of a February 2005 plane crash, according to family members who are awaiting DNA test results.

Kirsten Kearsley Stevens lost her husband Dave after a float plane carrying him and four others - Arnie Feast, Fabian Bedard, and brothers Doug and Trevor DeCock - crashed near Quadra Island, about 250 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

"My husband was wearing a floater coat so his body washed up," said Stevens.

The bodies of the remaining four victims have never been found despite an extensive private search by family members.
Last August, two feet encased in shoes washed up on Gabriola and Jedediah islands, just south of Quadra in the Strait of Georgia. And in February, another severed foot was found on nearby Valdes Island.

On Thursday, Richmond RCMP sent a team of investigators to Kirkland Island in the mouth of the Fraser River after a person walking there reported finding a foot - the fourth. All were right feet.

"We called (police) after the first foot turned up and second. No one came to collect DNA," said Stevens. "When the four men were declared missing at that time, DNA should have been taken but it wasn't."

Stevens said the shoes on the first two feet were sneakers and one of the descriptions matches what a crash victim was wearing when the plane went down.

She said Doug DeCock wore a size 12 shoe, which matches one of the feet. "It seems really clear to us and we know the way the current runs - it's highly possibly," she said. "It's not very nice to think that they've been dragged apart but at least it would say, 'yes they were there and here's something.' I think everybody would be grateful to just have something."

The sister of the pilot on the fatal flight says she's provided DNA to see if any of the remains belong to her brother, 52-year-old Arnie Feast.

"I happened to have all his stuff in a bag in my attic and when they phoned me, we took eight different things hoping we could find it," said Sally Feast.

Since Arnie Feast was single with no children, his toothbrush was used in DNA testing. "My family was very lucky we could actually find some DNA," she added.

Sally Feast said that every time another foot washes ashore, it just reminds her of the tragic accident. "Could it be possible? Maybe? You never know . . . You just have to live with it."

She said Kevin DeCock, the brother of victims Doug and Trevor DeCock, has dedicated the last three years to recovering the bodies of the four men. "We think they're down there," she said.

"At one point, they came across what they thought was somebody . . . they're going back to that spot."

Feast said the human remains could provide some much needed answers for family members. "It's very emotional and extremely hard . . . Kevin's parents want their boys back and we want closure."

As to why feet are the only body parts mysteriously washing up on the west coast, B.C.'s chief coroner said there could be a number of variables.

"When a body ends up in a body of water, there's a process of natural decomposition," said Terry Smith.

Water temperatures, ocean currents, tides, and even the type of clothing worn on a body part could be a clue.

All four severed feet were in shoes when they were discovered.

[Ogee]

Thoughts are with you, Widow..

From today's Province...

Canwest News Service, The Province
Published: Friday, May 23, 2008

A day after a fourth right foot washed ashore along the B.C. coast, the province's chief coroner revealed that DNA profiles are complete from the three other sneaker-clad right feet found over the last nine months.

Terry Smith said experts are now cross-checking the DNA with DNA collected from relatives of missing people - a process he said is time-consuming. However, Smith would not reveal any information about the DNA profiling tests, which identify sex, among other characteristics.

The fourth foot, which was found Thursday by a person walking on Kirkland Island, an uninhabited piece of land in the south arm of the Fraser River, has also been sent to the coroner's office for DNA testing.

It's a bizarre case that has the RCMP fielding media calls from around the world, and the public talking about how ocean currents move, whether running shoes float better than other clothing, and if there have been any recent boat sinkings or plane crashes.

Relatives of the victims of one such crash have already submitted DNA.

Kirsten Kearsley Stevens lost her husband Dave after a float plane carrying him and four others - Arnie Feast, Fabian Bedard, and brothers Doug and Trevor DeCock - crashed near Quadra Island, about 250 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

"My husband was wearing a floater coat, so his body washed up," said Stevens.

The bodies of the remaining four victims have never been found, despite an extensive private search by family members.

Last August, two feet encased in shoes washed up on Gabriola and Jedediah islands, just south of Quadra in the Strait of Georgia. And in February, another severed foot was found on nearby Valdes Island.

"We called [police] after the first foot turned up, and [the] second. No one came to collect DNA," said Stevens. "When the four men were declared missing at that time, DNA should have been taken, but it wasn't."

Stevens said the shoes on the first two feet were sneakers, and one of the descriptions matches what a crash victim was wearing when the plane went down.

She said Doug DeCock wore a size 12 shoe, which matches one of the feet. "It seems really clear to us and we know the way the current runs - it's highly possible," she said. "It's not very nice to think that they've been dragged apart, but at least it would say, 'Yes, they were there and here's something.' I think everybody would be grateful to just have something."

The sister of the pilot on the fatal flight says she's provided DNA to see if any of the remains belong to her brother, 52-year-old Arnie Feast.

"I happened to have all his stuff in a bag in my attic and when they phoned me, we took eight different things, hoping we could find it," said Sally Feast.

Since Arnie Feast was single with no children, his toothbrush was used in DNA testing. "My family was very lucky we could actually find some DNA," she added.

Sally Feast said every time another foot washes ashore, it just reminds her of the tragic accident. "Could it be possible? Maybe? You never know. . . . You just have to live with it."

She said Kevin DeCock, the brother of victims Doug and Trevor DeCock, has dedicated the last three years to recovering the bodies of the four men. "We think they're down there," she said.

"At one point, they came across what they thought was somebody. . . . They're going back to that spot."

Feast said the human remains could provide some much-needed answers for family members. "It's very emotional and extremely hard. . . . Kevin's parents want their boys back and we want closure."

As to why feet are the only body parts mysteriously washing up on the west coast, B.C.'s chief coroner said there could be a number of variables.

"When a body ends up in a body of water, there's a process of natural decomposition," said Terry Smith.

Water temperatures, ocean currents, tides, and even the type of clothing worn on a body part could be a clue.

[Widow]

A sixth foot washed up on the Tyee spit this morning.

Sixth foot found on B.C. shore
JUSTINE HUNTER

Globe and Mail Update

June 18, 2008 at 3:41 PM EDT

Another human foot is believed to have been discovered on a B.C. shore, the sixth such grisly discovery in the last ten months.

RCMP in Campbell River on Vancouver Island said a local woman strolling a beach found an Adidas sneaker this morning, containing what appears to be a man's foot.

“It's certainly suspicious,” Sergeant Mike Tresoor said in an interview.

“A lady walking on the beach alerted us to this. … It appears to be human remains. We haven't absolutely confirmed it – it will be confirmed through a pathologist.”

It appears to be a man's right foot, size 10. The first four were also right feet.

All six have been found either near the mouth of the Fraser River or on beaches along the Strait of Georgia, a relatively small portion of the province's vast shoreline.

The latest find is just minutes away from where a float plane crashed and sank three years ago. Four bodies were never recovered.

Kirsten Stevens, whose husband was the only passenger whose remains were located, was at the spit in Campbell River Wednesday trying to find out more on behalf of the families of the missing men.

“We are so frustrated,” she said. Efforts to determine if there is a DNA match between the victims and the feet that have washed up are continuing.

“Aw gosh, this is the same spit where the plane took off from, it's a constant reminder of the lack of closure,” she said in an interview.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ional/home

[Dash-Ate]

Have they not yet done DNA testing? Why is it talking so long. Closure is needed.

[Widow]

We just got word this morning that Arnie and Fabian have been excluded on the first three feet. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the Decock DNA and it will have to be recollected before it can be compared.