10 December 2011

"The agony of the feet"

In early November, another incident in the severed feet saga occurred in western Canada, as noted by the National Post:
The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the discovery of another foot over the weekend.... Eight feet belonging to six different people were discovered along the B.C. coast between August 2007 and August 2011. Six of the feet have since been identified as belonging to four people. The remaining two appear to belong to two men whose identities are yet to be determined.
The CBC adds these details:
Officials said that on Friday a youth attending a camp at the Sasamat Outdoor Centre spotted the boot, which was floating in a few metres of water off the northwest shore. When the boot washed up Saturday morning and a sock and bones were found inside, authorities were called in...

The coroners service said the autopsy did not show any tool marks or impressions on the bones to indicate the foot had been mechanically separated from the body... The metal eyelets are significantly rusted, which suggests that it could have been in the water for some time.

Although it is the ninth foot to wash up in southwestern B.C. in the past four years, the coroners service said there are "some significant differences between this and the other eight cases."

For one, this is the first foot to be found in fresh water, not saltwater. It is also the first to be found in a hiking boot rather than a running shoe...
For new readers, I should repeat my previous clarification about severed feet that "It's not a fetish for me, and I don't monitor the web for additional incidents or set any Google alerts, but having posted so many stories in the past, I now have a set of readers alert to new developments."  This time I'll add a hat tip to Elizabeth, who notified me about an ABC news report in October that provided a mundane explanation for several of the feet, 
and to Andre, who noted that BoingBoing is also devoting valuable column inches to the severed feet stories.

Writing posts on this subject typically presents two challenges - coming up with a catchy title, and searching the 'net for an illustration without wading into the world of fetishism. The title this time is a parody of ABC's "Wide World of Sports" motto (via the National Post).  The image shows "Zombie stocking Christmas 'gornaments'" available from the Neatoshop.

8 comments:

  1. Hahaha, it's become a prank. From your NP link: fake severed feet.

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  2. I Google Mapped the Sasamat Outdoor Centre. I found it located very near an inlet to the sea, in an area the rest of the feet were found in. The camp seems to be located between a fresh water lake and the same stretch of sea the others were found.

    I do wonder what is causing this. Hopefully not just some crazy person lopping off feet. It must be killing people. As nobody has reporting being attacked by anyone/anything. Whatever is going on, we must remember each severed foot could be a person who died in pain. As much as I love a good mystery, I hope it's solved soon

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  3. Hi Minnesotastan!

    Not sure if you'll get this comment since the post is a few months old, but I just saw this recent article in the daily mail, and wondered if you'd seen it. It offers an explanation for the severed foot mystery:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110052/Human-feet-washed-Pacific-coast-people-committed-suicide.html

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    Replies
    1. Noted (and appreciated). Thanks, John.

      btw, I screen every comment posted on the blog. Those older than a few months wind up in my emailbox for approval before they show up (because so many of them are spam), but I read every comment. And appreciate them.

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  4. Thought of you when I saw this today:

    http://networks.org/?src=stuff:world:americas:9016350

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    Replies
    1. I had not seen that. Thank you, anonymous person.

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  5. And another one. Thought you should know.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/02/us-usa-florida-foot-idUSBREA010X320140102?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

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