7th foot washes up on West Coast

Another running shoe withwhat may be adetached foot has washed up along the banks of the Fraser River in Richmond, B.C.,according to the RCMP.

A New Balance runner for a woman's left foot apparently containing human remains was found in Finn Slough in the south arm of the Fraser, near the end of Garden City Road, Const. Annie Linteau told CBC News.

Police have not released any further description of the shoe, but a woman's right foot in a size 7 New Balance running shoe was discovered on May 22 onKirkland Island, which is also in the Fraser River.

Linteau said police believe the New Balance running shoe contains human remains, but a shoe found near Campbell River turned out to be a hoax by someone who had stuffed animal remains in a sneaker.

If the remains are confirmed to be human, thiswill bethe seventh foot to have been found on the south coast, from Georgia Strait to the northwestern tip of Washington State, since August 2007.

Found by former MLA

The shoe and foot were found by former MLA and Richmond city council candidate Ken Johnston and his wife Diane while they were walking along the banks of the Fraser River on Tuesday.

"I poked it with a stick. I didn't want to touch it. It was really hard material inside the shoe. I picked it up and put it in a bag and it was very heavy," said Ken Johnston.

Johnston called police, who recovered the shoe and then sent it to the coroner for further examination on Wednesday, said Linteau.

It's too early to tell if this foot was forcibly severed, said Linteau, but she pointed out that none of the remains recovered in the past had any evidence of foul play.

"They appear to be disarticulated, on their own, either by the decomposition process [or] what have you," she said.