flanerie.org

This is one of my favourite headlines of the year so far. I also like the final sentence where the lazy kiwi cops just make up some shit rather than bothering looking for a missing person.

---

A severed human foot has been found on a beach by a man walking his dog.

Detective Ashley Gurney said the foot – in a black ankle sock and a dark blue Skechers velcro-strapped sneaker – was found on Himatangi Beach, near Palmerston North, about 1pm on Saturday.

Police are not treating the find – 3km south of Himatangi – as suspicious.

The left foot, around a size eight, belongs to a man and police believe it was only recently washed up on the beach.

"There's no sheared cut," Gurney said.

"To the naked eye it looks like the sea's pulled the body apart.

"It's been raging around in the water and nature's taken its toll."

There appeared to be no fish or animal bites.

Gurney said police were checking the find against any local missing persons, but would widen the search over the national database.

"We have no reason to suspect foul play at the moment – we're treating it as a missing persons," he said.

"We're really hoping for help from the public to identify the person."

The foot was sent to Palmerston North police station for forensic and DNA testing.

In the next few days it will be removed from the shoe and medically examined.

Gurney said the foot did not belong to missing pensioner Jim Alexander, who wandered away from a Palmerston North resthome more than a week ago.

Police believe Alexander may have fallen into the Manawatu River and drowned, but have not yet recovered a body.