Five human feet, each encased in a running shoe, all washed ashore in Canada's Strait of Georgia.

It's such a bizarre mystery. Could they be just a tragic coincidence? Or is something more sinister at work?

I tracked down the evidence, the experts and people searching for missing loved ones. Everyone's looking for answers.

The feet washed ashore one at a time over ten months. Each has a story of how it got there.

Investigators from both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the British Columbia Coroner's Service have invested hundreds of man hours. But so far, have little to show for it.

"There are no easy answers," said Chief Coroner Terry Smith. "This is just going to take time."

They don't know who the feet belong to, if they came from the same place or whether they're the result of foul play.

The first foot was found last August on Jedidiah Island towards the northern end of the Strait of Georgia. The second was discovered a week later on Gabriola Island near Nanaimo.

Six months later, the third food surfaced just to the south on Valdes Island in February. The fourth was found in the Fraser River Delta on Kirkland Island in May. And last month, the fifth foot was floating nearby, just off Westham Island.

So does that pattern tell us anything about where their journey began? According to the experts, unfortunately, no.

"We're exploring all avenues of investigation," said RCMP Constable Annie Linteau, "certainly not ignoring any possibilities."

Police don't have answers, so people have begun supplying their own.

Some believe the feet are related to organized crime, that it is the result of a form of punishment. Others think someone may be playing a practical joke. Many believe there is something sinister behind it.

KOMO News went to the experts to explore the likeliest theories.

One of the most perplexing questions: why are they just finding feet? Top forensic bug scientist Gail Anderson knows why.

With the help of the Venus Project, an underwater lab, she's done some of the only experiments on what happens to bodies underwater.

"We understand a lot about decomposition on land," said Anderson. "We're just scratching the surface now in the ocean."

Anderson put freshly-killed pigs in deep water with very low oxygen and no light. Later, she got a surprise.

"We got massive scavenging to the point where both animals were completely skeletonized within less that four weeks."

Anderson says the same thing would happen to a human body, but sneakers would protect the feet. And once released from the body, the buoyant sneakers would float to the surface.

University of Victoria Oceanographer Richard Dewey says sneakers can float "for months, if not years."

Dewey has developed detailed models of the tides and currents in the Strait of Georgia. Because the way the water sloshes and dilutes in the Strait, Dewey says, the five feet "could have come from anywhere."

The feet could have come from anywhere inside the Strait of Georgia, even potentially from Bellingham Bay or Boundary Bay in Northwest Washington.

Here's one possible theory for these missing feet. Three years ago, there was a plane crash just off Campbell River and the bodies of four of the five victims in that plane have never been recovered.

"We're looking for closure," said Sally Feast, whose brother, Arnie Feast, piloted the small float plane.

The coroner's service has already told Feast her brother's DNA doesn't match the first three feet found. She's still waiting for word on the last two.

"Every time a body part washes up on shore, it's just another door that gets opened that we don't get a chance to close," Feast said.

Then in June, a sixth foot was found on the shores of Campbell River.

"Being so close to where those guys went missing, right here on the spot where they took off from, you think 'God! Maybe this one's it! Please, please,'" said Kirsten Stevens, whose husband was killed in the plane.

The body of Stevens' husband was recovered, but she still hopes for closure for the other families.

But the sixth foot turned out to be a hoax; someone had packed a dog's paw inside a sock and sneaker.

Feast can't imagine who would be heartless enough to pull such a stunt.

"I'm 50 years old and I've never seen something so mean before," she said.

But could the five feet really have begun all in the same location?

"But if they're from the same source and they've been circulating out in the Strait of Georgia for years, then that's really peculiar," said Dewey.

So, could something more sinister be at work?

"We have no indication whatever that foul play has played any part in this," Smith contended. But when asked if he can rule it out, Smith admitted, "At this point, no."

In recent years, a number of young men have gone missing in British Columbia.

Stevens feels for all those families.

"Everybody who is missing a loved one has got to feel the same way," she said. "There just isn't any peace."

Families hope the truth behind the mystery of the feet wil be the answer to their own mysteries.