Foot found near Washington river belongs to woman missing since 2018, sheriff says
A beachgoer found a human foot inside a New Balance shoe near a Washington river in 2021, authorities said.
But for years investigators couldn’t figure out who the foot belonged to until they raised enough money to get it DNA tested.
After fundraising in January, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office raised $7,500 to test it through Othram, a private lab in The Woodlands, Texas.
The foot, which was found near the mouth of the Elwha River in Port Angeles, was determined to belong to 68-year-old Jerilyn L. Smith of Sequim, deputies said in Tuesday, Feb. 21, Facebook post.
Smith was reported missing Jan. 7, 2018, investigators said.
Investigators had trouble identifying the foot when it was first found because of the “unique nature of the evidence,” The Seattle Times reported.
The evidence limited the department from getting forensic analysis by Washington State Patrol and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the news outlet reported.
Othram was able to use “advanced forensic DNA testing” on the foot to identity Smith or a close relative.
“Othram built a comprehensive genealogical profile, and then Othram’s in-house genealogy team used the profile in genealogical research to produce investigate leads that we returned to the agency,” DNASolves.com said in a news release.
Port Angeles is about 85 miles northwest of Seattle.
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Foot found near Washington river belongs to woman missing since 2018, sheriff says."
