Detached Foot Washes Ashore On Canada Beach As 14th Such Discovery, Police Say

A human foot was found on Sunday off a beach in western Canada, marking the 14th such discovery on the country’s coast within a 10-year span, police said.

A man who had been hiking in Gabriola Island in British Columbia discovered what appeared to be a detached foot wedged amid a bundle of logs, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Wednesday, according to United Press International.

Canadian police, forensic teams and local coroners are currently working to identify the foot.

Twelve of the other 13 feet that had been discovered all had running shoes. The findings have since caused rumors to swirl about possible causes such as organized killings or natural disasters.

So far, officials have identified eight of the feet plus two pairs belonging to male suicide victims or accidental deaths, the coroner said.

Officials, however, have rule out the possibility of foul play in the most recent discovery since the foot appears to not show signs of trauma.

The feet stopped washing ashore from 2012 to 2016 until someone reportedly found a new foot on Feb. 7 along Vancouver Island’s Botanical Beach.

Decomposition causes feet to detach from their bodies, however, the materials in the shoes protect the foot from decomposing, thus allowing them to travel to the shore.

Local coroner Barb McLintock said the occurrences have sparked a series of pranks mocking the incidents, the Guardian reported in 2016.

"We’ve had people put dog foot skeletons in runners and leave them on the beach. Somebody even used old chicken bones," McLintock told the publication.