Video: Possible link between mystery feet and WA cold case

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SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. - For months, Canadian investigators have been baffled by human feet washing ashore.

Now, authorities are trying to figure out if one of the feet belongs to a body that showed up in San Juan County last year.

In March, 2007, a body was discovered on the shores of Orcas Island in San Juan County. It didn't have feet.

Officials were never able to identify the man.

The coroner's office treated it as a cold case, until they got a call a few days ago from their counterpart in British Columbia about a puzzle that has captivated the public. Over the past year, five human feet have mysteriously shown up on the shores of British Columbia.

The detached feet are found in shoes, but no other remains are ever close by.

BC investigators have been pouring over the DNA to try to find a match.

"There certainly is a close coincidence in findings of the feet and the missing feet here," said Randy Gaylord, San Jaun County Coroner.

Gaylord says his office believes the body is that of a man over age 30, about 5-foot 9-inches and with good dental work. Aside from that, there have been few clues.

"We will obtain the DNA profile and then meet with the British Columbia's coroner's office to compare these profiles and see if there's any connection," Gaylord said. "The driving goal of our office is to identify these remains and to notify the family."

The test results will not be available for a couple of weeks.

The San Juan County coroner says the body that was found showed no signs of trauma or foul play and the man had likely been dead for months.

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On Saturday, Canadian investigators made headway with one of the feet.

They linked the foot to a depressed man who disappeared a year ago.

Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said investigators used DNA testing to match the foot to the man, who is not being immediately identified out of respect to the family. Lemaitre added more information about the investigation will be released on Monday.

The family "wanted the time to reach out to their immediate family and share the news among themselves," Lemaitre said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.