According to the British Columbia Coroners Service, the foot, which was found in September 2018, is the 15th human foot that has been found in a little over a decade on the British Columbia shoreline. Since 2007, 10 out of the 15 cases have been matched to missing person investigations.
So far, the coroner's office has determined that the latest foot that washed up in West Vancouver belonged to a man. However, they have been unable to match the foot to an individual in a database containing missing people's DNA. A identification specialist has judged that the foot most likely belongs to someone under the age of 50, based on its bone structure.
"Typically, our process would be that we would work with any of the available information that we would find at a scene to help determine the identity, but, in this case, we've exhausted those options," Andy Watson, a spokesperson for the coroners service, told CBC News.
"So, now we're turning to the public, in hopes that we can get some information to help create a match and determine the identification," Watson added.
According to Watson, the left foot was found in a size 9.5 Nike shoe with Ortholite inserts. The shoe was manufactured between February 1 and April 17, 2017.
"I mean, certainly, it is an odd trend. One thing that we know is that these feet that are found — they're not linked to any sort of suspicious circumstance," Watson said. "I want to clear that up to make sure people are aware this isn't a cause for panic."
