DNA links detached foot to missing man

Tag : matching shoe

Cpl. LeMaitre said the identification was made through matching"familial DNA," and the victim's family members are beingcontacted. The identity of the dead man is being withheld.
Meanwhile, in another bizarre development in the case, a coroner onthe picturesque San Juan Islands in the Strait of Georgia disclosedthat a footless body was discovered 16 months ago on the easternshores of Orcas Island, a northern island in the American chain.
But despite the torrent of publicity over the five severed feet inrecent weeks, coroner Randall Gaylord said he did not advise B.C.investigators about the discovery until Thursday.
"I certainly could have made an inquiry sooner. No question aboutthat," said Mr. Gaylord, "but I never knew enough about the missingfeet, what size or type of shoe they were in, or whether they weremen or women.
"And who do you contact, and what are you going to find out?"
A possible connection between the detached feet found in BritishColumbia and the Orcas Island footless body came to him justrecently when he was reading a newspaper article about the case."There was a report of shoes with no bodies. And I thought, 'Gee, Ihave a body with no shoes. I wonder if they could be related,' "Mr. Gaylord recounted.
In B.C., the first foot was discovered last Aug. 20 on JedediahIsland. Six days later, a second foot was found washed ashore onGabriola Island.
Subsequent foot discoveries were made at other locations on Feb. 2,May 22 and June 16. All were found inside sneakers, sparkingspeculation that the feet remained buoyant until they drifted ontovarious beaches because of the footwear's low density.
Police have said that none of the feet - four right and one left -appear to have been intentionally severed, but likely detachedduring natural degeneration.
Two of the feet are from the same person, and one is a woman's,according to forensic investigators.
Mr. Gaylord said the body discovered by a hiker on a remote beachof Orcas Island was mostly skeletal remains. It was missing theright arm, right hand, left hand and both feet.
No foot bones were found near the remains, the coroner said.However, sheriffs did discover an argyle sock and a slip-on shoeclose by, he added.
Subsequent forensic work assessed the dead person as a male, aboutfive-foot-10, of white, Hispanic or mixed-Asian race, who diedbetween two and 12 months before being found, Mr. Gaylord, a14-year veteran as a coroner, told The Globe and Mail.
"There was no indication of violence." He said there are excellentdental remains, including several gold inlays. "He had the means tohave some nice dental work done ... but slowly, this became a coldcase."
Jeff Dolan of the B.C. Coroners' Service said the service andpolice are taking the Orcas Island discovery seriously.