Foot bones solve 25-year-old mystery
Posted February 17, 2012 11:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT MOODY (NEWS1130) – It’s taken 25 years, but a BC family now knows where their loved one died.
The BC Coroners Service has identified some foot bones that washed up in a shoe in a Port Moody lake as those of Stephen Zahorujko.
In January of 1987, the 65-year-old went fishing alone in his boat on Sasamat Lake when it overturned. Zahorujko’s boat and gear were spotted floating in the middle of the lake and rescue crews found his car but there was no sign of him.
Last November, a hiking boot was spotted offshore. Inside a sock were the remains of a foot. Coroner Stephen Fonseca tells us they tested it and learned they belong to Zahorujko.
“It’s tremendously rewarding to our staff,” explains Fonseca. “Having the opportunity to work with the family and bring them closure… it brings a tremendous amount of satisfaction to us.”
“I think it’s a huge relief to the family that they now have remains,” he adds.
Between August 2007 and November 2012, nine feet belonging to seven people were discovered in BC: eight along the coast and one in Sasamat Lake in the Lower Mainland.
The BC Coroners Service has now identified seven of the feet as belonging to five people. None of the deaths appear to be suspicious.
