The beaches along the Straight of Georgia in Canada are gaining notoriety for a very creepy reason: dozens of feet in shoes have washed up on its shores over the past one and a half decades.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company , the bizarre mystery began at least 14 years ago, in August 2007 when two different sneakers — complete with a foot inside each — were found in areas around the shore in the British Columbia locale within a month. Each was eventually linked to a missing persons report from years before.
Since then, there have been at least 13 other cases of disarticulated feet in shoes found washed along the beaches of the province. Though the true crime fan might immediately think of scenarios involving serial killers, authorities believe that the truth is less dramatic.
None of the appendages appear to have been removed from their original owners in any mechanical or non-natural way; rather, they have simply worn off through natural decomposition. Due to the buoyancy of shoe-encased feet, they often float and get carried along by ocean currents until they make their way to one of the beaches surrounding the strait. In other words, the currents are more to blame than any location-specific superstitions.
However, that does not mean there isn’t foul play involved in some cases. Though police have managed to solve a vast majority of cases involving the discovered body parts — which range from accidents to homicides — there are still unsolved investigations. One of them involves the identity of the owner of two blue and black New Balance sneakers which were found at Botanical Beach on Vancouver Island in 2016.
Authorities are now hoping to bring attention to the strange happenings to help solve the remaining mysteries, such as the New Balance case.
“You really just never know what it is that’s going to jog someone’s memory and help solve these cases,” explained Laura Yazedjian, a coroner with the service who specializes in identifying remains.
Can you help? You may have a piece of missing info to bring closure to families searching for a loved one. 200 unsolved Unidentified Human Remains cases in BC. BC Coroners Service has an interactive viewer about these cases. See interactive viewer here… https://t.co/f5IqoIdxcS pic.twitter.com/4w8TVJ4brR
— BC Crime Stoppers (@FightCrimeBC) February 5, 2021
The coroner urged anyone with information to come forward — both to help “solve” the case and also to help bring closure to the families and friends of the missing people.
“It’s incredibly satisfying, partly to solve the puzzle because it really is a mystery,” Yazedjian said.
“Also just to know that we’re able to give a family and relatives an answer that they’ve been waiting for months or years or even decades sometimes,” she added.
In addition, officials hope to keep residents vigilant about reporting any footwear that washes up in the area instead of discarding it as debris.
“I’m pretty sure there’s no unchecked shoe on the beaches of B.C. now,” Yazedjian noted.
In other eerie news, an investigation has found that looted human remains are being sold in black markets on Facebook, per The Inquisitr .