At the corner of the US Canadian border can be found a mysterious body of water known as the Salish Sea. You might think it sounds like a make believe fictional place, especially after hearing of it’s foot fetish. Since 2007 severed human feet have regularly been washing up on the beaches surrounding it. So far more than 20 have been found – which may not sound like a lot. But I think when it comes to severed feet any amount is a lot. No one knows for certain why so many feet keep appearing in this specific area. But many locals have put forward strange or sinister explanations.
A Killer At Large?
It was a 12 year old girl who discovered the first foot, visiting the Canadian side of the sea in 2007. On approaching it she thought it was just a shoe. But being a curious child she took a closer look. Inside she found a partially decayed human foot. In Canada it’s probably good luck to find a bloody human appendage. So I assume she wasn’t too traumatized by it. The story made the local news and peaked some interest, but it was assumed to be an isolated incident. But then just 6 days later another foot was found on a nearby shoreline. Like the first it was in a size 12 shoe. Yet as it was also a right foot it could not have been of the same person.
They could not have known at the time it was the beginning of a long string of incidents – one still ongoing today. As the years rolled by and the number of feet discovered rose, rumor spread that a serial killer was active in the area. With the Salish Sea crossing into both countries the killer could be either Canadian or American. And with only feet being found, there was little evidence to indicate anything much.
Aliens?
Another rumor blames aliens. According to it UFOs watch beaches in the region, waiting for somebody to be seen walking alone at night. Then they would use their green man alien abduction technology… leaving just a single foot behind. Apparently even aliens make some mistakes. To be fair this theory is one of the less believed in. A more logical explanation is that the Salish Sea acts as a kind of magnet for floating objects – it’s massive shoreline and complex system of waterways seeing all kinds of things wash up. The feet could of floated over great distances, ending up here by pure chance of geography.
More often than not they are found in a shoe which would help with buoyancy. But why is it always feet? Well the tissue that connects our feet to our legs is relatively weak. With the natural rotting of flesh feet soon break free. As bodies decompose much slower in water, the feet could potentially drift far. So it’s not that feet are magically drawn to the Salish Sea. It’s that the world’s oceans are full of floating feet.
This theory has clear logic behind it – much more than any of the others. But it’s much less whimsical so let’s just move on.
A Not So Modern Mystery
some parents in the area have stopped taking their children to local beaches, fearing what the sight of a bloody foot would do to their kid. Personally I wouldn’t worry. But the way I see it people are Hippocrates. If you carry around a rabbits foot you’ll get called lucky. Do the same with a human foot and apparently you’re some kind of criminal.
The last confirmed foot discovery was in 2019, with DNA tests revealing it’s origin. No one knows when the next will be found… or where. While the modern trend began only in 2007, there are also historical cases going back much further. In 1887 a human foot was found in a boot at a beach near Vancouver. So maybe cutting off feet is just a thing in that part of North America.
Some theories blame animal attacks like wolves or bears. I’ve even heard people speculate Bigfoot might be behind it. It’s such a bizarre mystery Bigfoot isn’t even the weirdest part of it… and that says a lot. But strange as it is there really isn’t much more to say about it. Feet just keep showing up around the Salish Sea and no one knows why. For all the theories and grizzly detail, all we have is speculation.
Non Human Feet
But I feel uneasy ending this article without giving any more info. So here is a related story that actually has an explanation. Also a long the Salish Sea, a Canadian man frantically called the police in 2021. Distraught, he claimed to have found a severed foot. Fully aware of the ongoing mystery, police rushed over to identify it. And they did find a foot… but not a human’s. It was from a mannequin.