--- title: Severed Feet Found Washed Up on Pacific Northwest Shores description: At least sixteen severed human feet inside shoes have washed up on the shores of the Pacific Northwest since 2007 canonical: https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-11T21:28:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:00:53.718Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Severed Feet Keep Washing Up on Pacific Northwest Shores og:description: At least 16 have been found in the region since 2007 og:url: https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Severed Feet Keep Washing Up on Pacific Northwest Shores twitter:description: At least 16 have been found in the region since 2007 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Severed Feet Keep Washing Up on Pacific Northwest Shores  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 11, 2016 9:28 PM CUT  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 11, 2016 9:28 PM CUT At least sixteen severed human feet inside shoes have washed up on the shores of the Pacific Northwest since 2007, creating a puzzle for experts who don’t know where they’re coming from. The detached human feet, most of them right feet and all attached to running shoes or hiking boots, have been found in British Columbia, Canada and Washington state. One foot was found earlier this week, the [Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/11/severed-feet-still-inside-shoes-keep-mysteriously-washing-up-on-pacific-northwest-shores/?tid=sm%5Ffb "undefined") on Thursday. Some have speculated the feet come from people who were caught in natural disasters or who fell victim to drug dealers, serial killers or human traffickers. Scientists have countered that hands and feet are often the first to fall off when a body is caught in the water for long periods of time. Police are now working to link the feet with people who have gone missing, using the make and model of the shoes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/"},"headline":"Severed Feet Keep Washing Up on Pacific Northwest Shores","datePublished":"2016-02-11T21:28:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:00:53.718Z","description":"At least 16 have been found in the region since 2007","url":"https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/","keywords":["Crime","Washington"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4218186/severed-feet-pacific-northwest/","name":"Severed Feet Keep Washing Up on Pacific Northwest Shores"}}]}] ```