SEATTLE — A human foot that washed ashore near the Elwha River over a year ago has been identified as the remains of a woman who disappeared five years ago.
In December 2021, a person discovered a woman’s size 8 New Balance sneaker containing human remains near the mouth of the Elwha River outside Port Angeles. Due to the limited evidence, investigators could not determine details about the person’s physical attributes. The case went cold.
Last month, law enforcement officials in Clallam County asked the public to donate to cover the cost of DNA testing on the foot. They announced they identified the person on Tuesday.
The foot belonged to Jerilyn L. Smith, last seen in January 2018. She was 68 years old when she disappeared from her Sequim home, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Smith’s husband found her car parked near the Elwha River Bridge, west of Port Angeles. Search-and-rescue dogs tracked her scent to the middle of the bridge, over the river. Divers looked in the river and along the banks, down to the beaches of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but didn’t find her.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Othram Labs, a private forensic lab based in Texas, to identify a DNA source from the foot.
The Sheriff’s Office usually relies on Washington State Patrol and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System for forensic analysis, said detective Sgt. Brian Knutson. However, the unique nature of the evidence meant the remains did not meet the criteria for testing through either agency, and the Sheriff’s Office had to crowdfund $7,500.
Othram Labs provided a list of surviving family members to the identified DNA source, and detectives contacted one of them for a DNA sample that was sent to the lab for comparison. The lab confirmed the foot belonged to Smith.
“The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office would also like to thank all those who participated in funding the DNA research on this case that ultimately helped a family with having some semblance of closure during the grieved loss of their loved one,” the release said.
Additional information about Smith’s cause and manner of death was not immediately available.
It’s not the first time a missing foot has washed ashore in Washington. Often, they leave investigators few clues about who died and how.
Since 2007, nearly two dozen human feet in sneakers have washed up along the coasts of the Salish Sea in the U.S. and Canada.
Changes in sneaker design and several factors that play into whether a body floats or drowns explains why so many feet in sneakers wash ashore.
