The BC Coroners Service has identified a woman whose feet washed ashore in Richmond, in 2008.

After an exhaustive post-mortem investigation by the Coroners Service, the feet were positively identified by DNA analysis as belonging to a New Westminster resident who committed suicide by jumping from the Pattulo Bridge into the Fraser River in April 2004. Her body was not found during the ensuing search. Her next-of-kin have been notified of the recent results of the analyses. At the request of the family, her name is not being made public at this time.

The woman's right foot was found May 22, 2008 on Kirkland Island, in the Fraser River in Richmond, just west of the George Massey Tunnel. The left foot was found Nov. 11, 2008, on a beach along the Fraser River, also in Richmond. Each foot was encased in a matching size 7B New Balance running shoe, and DNA analysis showed they came from the same individual.

Autopsies indicated the feet had not been mechanically removed, but rather separated through the natural processes that occur in a marine environment.

The Coroners Service led the identification process, assisted by the multi-disciplinary E-Peregal Task Force, Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, New Westminster Police Department, Richmond RCMP, BC Police Provincial Missing Persons Unit and RCMP's Behavioural Sciences group - Rapid ID program, Delta Police Department and the other municipal agencies that forwarded missing persons cases.

Eight feet belonging to six individuals were discovered along the B.C. coast between August 2007 and August 2011. The BC Coroners Service has now positively identified six of the feet as belonging to four individuals. With the assistance of law enforcement partners, the service continues to work toward identifying the remaining two, which originate from two males. To date, no evidence indicates that any of the deaths are suspicious.

Contact:

Stephen Fonseca, Coroner
Manager, Identification & Disaster Response Unit
Office of the Chief Coroner
604 660-8219