Novel
After a brief hiatus from public life, Lesley is ready to announce her upcoming novel, Someone Else’s Shoes. The novel contains factual information researched from police and media reports, which serve as a springboard for a mysterious and twisted plot.
Someone Else’s Shoes
Synopsis
Eight feet, encased in athletic shoes, have washed up on the shores of the small islands clustered between Vancouver Island and Coastal BC.
The treacherous waters and isolated communities that populate the coast provide a fascinating backdrop to the events that led to the ominous appearance of the feet. A small family struggles alone to survive by sustenance fishing, dependent on their own ingenuity and at the mercy of weather, currents and the ferocity of the landscape. Further north, a teenage girl runs from foster care to hide in the trophy fishing camps, navigating her way through the perils of wild waters and the even wilder men who staff and visit the camps.
Intrigued by the initial discoveries and police reports, Nanaimo Ship Safety Officer Ed LaGrange pursues the possibility of a serial killer with the assistance of his paraplegic daughter. Struggling with his failure to anticipate and avoid his daughter’s accident, Ed finds himself caught up in the hunt for the source of the feet, scouring the rugged coastline from his home on Gabriola Island to the village of Hartley Bay.
Read an Excerpt
Further Information
Discoveries
The first foot was discovered on August 20, 2007, on Jedediah Island, by a girl visiting from Washington. The girl found the foot when she picked up a shoe and opened the sock, finding the foot. The foot was that of a man, and was found wearing a size 12 Adidas shoe and a sock. It is thought to have become disarticulated due to submerged decay. This kind of shoe was produced in 2003 and distributed mainly in India.
The second foot was discovered by a couple on August 26 on Gabriola Island. It was also that of a man, and also became disarticulated due to decay. It was waterlogged and appeared to have been taken ashore by an animal. It probably floated ashore from the south. This shoe was produced in 2004 and sold worldwide, and the type has since been discontinued.
The third foot was discovered on February 8, 2008, on Valdes Island. It was also a man’s right foot and was wearing a sneaker and a sock. This shoe was sold in Canada or the United States between February 1, 2003, and June 30, 2003.
The fourth foot was discovered on May 22 on Kirkland Island, an island in the Fraser Delta between Richmond and Delta, British Columbia. It was also wearing a sock and sneaker. It is thought to have washed down the Fraser River, having nothing to do with the ones found in the Gulf Islands. This right foot was of a woman. The shoe was a New Balance sneaker manufactured in 1999.
The fifth foot was on June 16, floating in water near Westham Island, part of Delta. It was found floating in the water by two hikers. It has been confirmed that the left foot found on June 16 on Westham Island and the right foot found February 8 on Valdes Island belonged to the same man.
Another foot was discovered on August 1, 2008, by a camper on a beach near Pysht, Washington. It was covered in seaweed. The site of the discovery was less than 16 kilometers from the international border in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Testing confirmed that the right foot was human. Police say the large black-top, size 11 athletic shoe for a right foot contains bones and flesh. This was the first foot of the series to be found outside of British Columbia. The RCMP and Clallam County Sheriff’s Department agreed on August 5 that the foot could have been carried south from Canadian waters.
Another foot was discovered on November 11, 2008, in Richmond. The foot was in a shoe that was found floating in the Fraser River. The shoe was described as a small New Balance running shoe, possibly a woman’s shoe. A forensic DNA profiling analysis indicated that it was a genetic match to the foot discovered on May 22 on Kirkland Island.
In July 2008 it was announced that one foot had been identified by Vancouver police as belonging to a man who was depressed and probably committed suicide. His identity was withheld on request of his family.
On October 28, 2009 another foot had been inside a running shoe found on a beach in Richmond.
Sixth foot hoax
The sixth “foot”, which was discovered on June 18, 2008, on Tyee Spit near Campbell River on Vancouver Island, was a hoax. The hoax was a “skeletonized animal paw” which was put in a sock and shoe and then stuffed with dried seaweed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have begun an investigation into the hoax, and an arrest could result in charges of public mischief.
Theories
The series of discoveries has been called “astounding” and “almost beyond explanation”, as no other body parts have turned up. The discoveries have caused speculation that the feet may be those of people who died in a boating accident or a plane crash in the ocean. One explanation is that some of the feet are those of four men who died in a plane crash near Quadra Island in 2005 and whose bodies have not been recovered, though one of the feet has been determined to be from a female. Foul play has also been suggested, although none of the first four feet contained evidence of tool marks. This does not rule out foul play, however; it is possible that the bodies could have been weighted down and disposed of, and the feet are separating due to natural decay.
Determining the origin of the feet is complicated because ocean currents may carry floating items long distances, and because currents in the Strait of Georgia may be unpredictable. A foot may float as far as 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Also, human feet have a tendency to become adipocere (a soap-like substance formed from body fat), which makes it hard for forensic scientists to find clues. Under optimal conditions, a human body may survive in water for as long as three decades, meaning that the feet may have been floating around for years.
Level of rarity
Finding human remains on a beach is not uncommon. Storms may erode old burial sites and wash the debris out to sea where it is subsequently found, although this in particular would mainly reveal bones. In addition, missing people are common, and people fall off vessels at sea on occasion. Decomposition may separate the foot from the body because the ankle is relatively weak, and the buoyancy caused by air either inside or trapped within a shoe would allow it to float away.] According to SFU entomologist Gail Anderson, extremities such as the hands, feet, and head often detach as a body decomposes in the water, although they rarely float.
However, finding feet and not the rest of the bodies has been deemed unusual. Finding two feet has been given “million to one odds” and “an anomaly”. The finding of the third foot made it the first time three such discoveries had been made so close to each other. The fourth discovery caused speculation about human interference and, statistically, was called “curious”.
Locations of the Feet
View Recovered Feet in a larger map
Table of Discoveries
| Number | Date | Place | Notes | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 20, 2007 | Jedediah Island | A man’s right foot | |
| 2 | August 26, 2007 | Gabriola Island | A man’s right foot | 49°09′00″N 123°43′59″W / 49.15°N 123.733°W |
| 3 | February 8, 2008 | Valdes Island | A man’s right foot (same person as June 16 finding) | |
| 4 | May 22, 2008 | Kirkland Island | A woman’s right foot (same person as November 11 finding) | |
| 5 | June 16, 2008 | Westham Island | A man’s left foot (same person as February 8 finding) | 49°05′N 123°09′W / 49.083°N 123.15°W |
| August 1, 2008 | near Pysht, Washington | A right foot, only U.S. find so far | ||
| November 11, 2008 | Richmond | A woman’s left foot (same person as May 22 finding) | ||
| October 28, 2009 | Richmond | A man’s right foot |