Severed Foot in Campbell River Campground

Shoe Washed Ashore in RV Park Revealed as Hoax

When five running-shoe clad, severed feet washed up on the shores of Sandra Malone's home province of British Columbia, Canada over the course of the last 11 months, it raised all sorts of questions. When a sixth severed foot washed up right in front of her Campbell River RV campground, questions turned to downright fear. Suddenly her small community was home to a macabre mystery, which is now the focus of international media attention.

A lady at the beach was combing for rocks for an art project when she came across a shoe and thought someone at the campground had lost it. When she got closer, she could see the bone and realized that it looked like a severed foot in a running shoe.

It was the sixth foot to wash up, but we’ve been told it was a hoax. It looked human to us, and even the officers quoted in the newspaper said it looked to be human remains. It was actually the shoe stuffed with seaweed and animal carcass bone.

We had just heard a few days before about the fifth foot being found near where we live. Campbell River is a very safe place. To have something like that happen – before we knew it was a hoax – was terrible. For someone in this area to be sick enough to do something like that as a prank is absolutely disgusting.

Is there criminal activity in the area? The investigation is being kept very quiet, but it causes a lot of speculation. All the international attention means the phone is ringing all the time. It’s opened up a lot of wounds for families who have lost loved ones in accidents on the water.