MAYNE ISLAND, B.C.–RCMP have solved part of the mystery of the severed feet after matching one pair with a missing Vancouver man, but a new twist emerged this weekend with the disclosure that a footless body was found 16 months ago in Washington state.

Five feet, all in running shoes, have washed up on B.C. shorelines since last August. Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre said yesterday DNA samples confirm two of those feet belonged to a man from the Greater Vancouver area.

His family, who asked for privacy over the weekend so they could inform other relatives, had submitted the samples to the B.C. Coroner's Service. The man was apparently depressed, family members told RCMP.

"At this point, the major crime investigators feel that this is not as a result of foul play," Lemaitre said. The RCMP will release more information about the man tomorrow, he said.

The other feet belong to two men and one woman, according to DNA samples, police say.

But in an unusual turn, RCMP and the coroner's office are now awaiting FBI data on a body found with no feet just south of B.C. in the San Juan Islands of Washington state.

Coroner Randall Gaylord said yesterday that a hiker on the remote shores of Orcas Island found human remains on the shore in March of last year. The nearly intact skeleton belonged to a man at least 30 years old and 5-foot-9. Missing were the right arm and hand, the left hand and both feet.

Tidal currents in the area have deposited human remains from the Vancouver area on the San Juan Islands before. Gaylord, coroner for the past 14 years, recalled investigating one such case in the 1990s. The nearly intact body of a Vancouver mechanic, still wearing his blue coveralls, who had jumped off a bridge in the Fraser River, floated all the way to the islands.

Gaylord said the body found in 2007 on the San Juans' Orcas Island was sent to the FBI crime lab to see if dental records could provide a match. He didn't think to check with the B.C. coroner and RCMP until a week ago, when Canadian police released pictures of the shoes that had washed ashore.

"It's possible this is just a coincidence," said Gaylord. "Once our DNA profile is done, we can meet with them and compare results."

Gaylord said a black Merrell athletic shoe was found near the skeleton, but no one knows whether it belonged with the human remains. A red and white argyle sock with the brand name of London department store Harrods was inside the shoe.

DNA results have also confirmed none of the feet washed ashore in British Columbia match the four missing victims of a 2005 Quadra Island plane crash.

Early this month, investigators told relatives of two of the victims, Arnie Feast and Fabian Bedard, the DNA was not a match. This week, relatives of brothers Doug and Trevor Decock were also informed that the remains in the shoes were not a match.





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