Mystery foot no Sasquatch, just bear

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A severed skinless foot found in a Washington, D.C.-area dump earlier this month triggered a messy homicide investigation, but turned out to be a bear paw.

The foot was found on Feb. 10 in Spotsylvania, Va., east of Richmond. Spotsylvania Sheriff Howard Smith launched a homicide investigation that involved sifting through 127 tons of garbage in search of other body parts.

When an x-ray came back saying the five-toed, 8-inch foot wasn't human, the digging stopped, but then Bigfoot, or Sasquatch hunters became interested, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

But their hopes were dashed when Virginia biologists and an anthropologist determined it was a bear's hind paw, likely one that had been skinned along with the claws for a rug, the report said.

Mark Fonseca of Blackbear Taxidermy in Millford, Va., told the Post he wasn't surprised by the confusion.

"A bear's foot can look close to a human foot until you get to the toes," he said.