The BC Coroners Service has identified a person whose foot bones washed ashore in Sasamat Lake in Port Moody last November as a man missing after a boating accident 25 years ago.

DNA analysis has confirmed that the foot bones belonged to Stefan Zahorujko, of Vancouver. The confirmation came after an exhaustive post-mortem investigation with the help and co-operation of law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Zahorujko, then aged 65, went fishing alone in his boat on Sasamat Lake on Jan. 5, 1987. His overturned boat, fishing gear and personal effects were later discovered floating in the middle of the lake by rescue personnel, while his personal vehicle and trailer were located unattended on Bedwell Bay Road adjacent to the lake.

Multiple searches and recovery efforts were undertaken but failed to locate his body. It was presumed he had fallen from the boat and drowned.

On Nov. 4, 2011, a hiking boot was noticed floating offshore by a youth attending a camp at the Sasamat Outdoor Centre. The next morning the boot was found, washed up on the northwest shore of the lake. Once it was retrieved, a sock with the remains of a foot was found within it. Authorities were immediately notified.

An autopsy indicated the foot had not been mechanically removed, but rather separated through the natural processes that occur in water.

The BC Coroners Service led the successful identification process, assisted by investigators of the Coquitlam RCMP Detachment, Port Moody Police Department and BC Police Missing Persons Centre. Mr. Zahorujko's next-of-kin have since been notified of the findings.

Between August 2007 and November 2012, nine feet belonging to seven individuals were discovered in British Columbia: eight along the coast and one in Sasamat Lake in the Lower Mainland. The BC Coroners Service has now positively identified seven of the feet as belonging to five individuals.

Work continues to identify 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