Since 2007, 12 severed human feet have washed up in Canada… and nobody can explain it
The feet have all been discovered in trainers, which could be one of the big clues
WHETHER you've been to Canada or not, the country probably conjures up images of snow, skiing and stunning landscapes. But severed feet? Surprisingly, yes.
Since 2007, at least 12 different feet has washed up along the shore of British Columbia, within about 125 miles of each other.
Most of them have been right feet belonging to men, and there have been a couple of pairs which have come ashore. Spookily, they've all been clad in trainers too.
While they came fairly regularly at first, there was a gap of four years before two were discovered in 2016. Now people are once again wondering what it is about this stretch of shoreline which sees the phenomenon occurring.
A lot of the feet have been identified, with several belonging to people who were known to be suffering from mental illness. None of them have been linked to foul play, with some suggesting as Vancouver has so many high bridges it could be they are from the bodies of people who have committed suicide.
When the first feet were discovered, the rumour mill went into overdrive.
There was talk of a serial killer on the loose, and some people even planted fake feet to scare others. They used dog and chicken bones, so it's safe to say people weren't too fooled.
Others suggested the people might have been killed by drug dealers or in a natural disaster, with human traffickers also blamed by some.
One extremely colourful suggestion was that someone was sailing the seas with bodies stored in containers, with the occasional one coming free and parts of it ending up on the beach.
Of course, those in charge have tried to allay these kind of fears.
Barb McLintock works in the coroner's office in British Columbia, and she believes there's a fairly simple reason why the feet have been washing up - as bodies decompose, it's likely the feet come free.
"They can tell looking at the ends of the bones whether they [separated] naturally or whether there’s any sign that any mechanical force has been applied to them, whether there’s any trauma, whether there’s any tool marks on them,” she told .
“And none of them have had anything like that.
"All the evidence is pointed to just this natural articulation process."
That's pretty well explained, but it doesn't quite solve everything.
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After all, where are the rest of the bodies? And why is it almost always right feet that wash up, in training shoes?
Plus, how come this only started in 2007?
At least one part of that was tackled by forensic expert Gail Anderson, who told : "Something you’ll notice is that the only feet washing up are in running shoes.
"They’re not washing up in stilettos or sandals, or as bare feet."
The point seems to be that at one point the people were wearing the sort of shoes you might have on if you were on a boat.
The trainers could also be protecting the feet from fish and other animals, plus they act like a giant float. That means the feet don't sink, and instead they wash up.
That's all well and good - but why didn't think happen before 2007?
Well there's no good answer for that one.
It's true feet have washed up in other areas of the world, like Washington State, but never in the quantity Canada is experiencing.
Some have suggested given people know about the discovery of the limbs, others are more likely to be keeping watch for them.
There are also claims the tides could be to blame.
However, a little known fact is that this isn't the first time a dismembered foot has been discovered in the area.
One of the feet was discovered near an area of Vancouver called Leg in Boot Square.
Why did it get that nickname? Because in the 1800s a boot containing a LEG was found washed up.
Pretty spooky stuff, just like this unsolved mystery of a child found in a cardboard box and these terrifying unsolved serial murders.