Why Do Disembodied Feet Always Wash Up In The Same Place?

This phenomenon is creepy and baffling and has caught the attention of the media for years. Most of the discoveries have been linked to missing people but some are still unidentified. 

The first discovery was made on August 20, 2007, in Jedidiah Island in British Columbia. The latest one was discovered on January 1, 2019, in Everett, Washington and officials have linked it to a man who went missing in 2016. 

In 2018 when a foot was washed up in Vancouver, police were able to link it to a person who had gone missing earlier that year. The sneaker that was found was a “Nike Free RN” light grey shoe. It had a white base and a black “Nike” swoosh logo. 

The discovery of these feet is eerie and morbid and it makes us want to jump to the conclusion that there might be some serial killer lurking out there somewhere. Maybe this killer dismembers his victims and then dumps them into the ocean? But police and health authorities seem to have a different theory.

Among the 15 feet that were found in British Columbia, 13 have been identified. The unidentified feet were found on the Botanical Beach in Vancouver Island in February 2016.

Most of the feet are in connection with people who have gone missing earlier. For instance, a foot found in 2007 belonged to a man who had gone missing in 2006. In 2009, a foot was found in a boot and it is linked to a man who went missing in 1985. 

In the US, the feet were identified and noted that they belonged to a woman who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. The other feet belonged to a fisherman and a depressed person.

In all of the feet that were identified in Canada as well as the US, scientists, and police were able to establish that there was no foul play involved. They stated that it is not a serial killer committing brutal crimes. 

Instead, some of the most plausible explanations for these odd and creepy discoveries were put forward. The explanation for these dismembered feet is that all these people died by accident. That is by falling off a boat, or by committing suicide, or they may have simply got washed away by a big wave. Barb McLintock, late B.C. Coroner told the Canadian press that there are no suggestions of homicide and that every case has a “very reasonable explanation”. 

The reason why the feet separate from the rest of the body is because the ankle is the weakest part in the human body. Natural decomposition, saltwater and the current in the ocean are responsible for degrading the sinew in the feet and as a result the feet get cut off. The shoes are made of sturdy material and are responsible for keeping the feet intact and help it to float on the water. 

But another strange fact is that the feet are found mainly in one area. Most of these feet ended up in the Strait of Georgia and on the west coast of Vancouver, B.C. How is it that all these feet only end up in the Salish Sea area? A University of Washington professor, Parker MacCready has an answer for this. He explained that in the ocean things that tend to float move along with the currents and are also blown in the direction with the wind. 

And you may be wondering how it that we haven’t heard of this happening in the past? If many people end up dying in the ocean by accident, how is it that we are finding their feet only in recent times? Late McLintock was able to explain this by saying that nowadays running shoes are designed in a way that are light and have air pockets. This helps to keep them afloat. Shoes help to prevent sea animals from devouring human remains and also hold the foot together even though it’s decaying.

Like the occurrence of the disembodied feet, other human body parts were found as well such as the body parts in Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 Olympics at the beach volleyball courts. Body parts of tourists were also found washed up in Fiji in 2016. 

Despite the explanations put forward, what do you think about this creepy occurrence? It is really an accident or is there someone out there who has some deep dark secrets?