Newspaper Stories on the 'hand!'

'Hand' probably paw or an animal: police
Sarah Simpson, The CitizenPublished: Wednesday, January 19, 2011

After 10 feet in three years have been plucked from the shores of the Salish Sea, it's no wonder Crofton resident Steven Fitzpatrick was alarmed to see what looked like a human hand floating near the Osborne Bay beach over the weekend.
Fitzpatrick and his buddy were walking his dog along a trail around 3 p.m. on Jan. 15 when they noticed something fishy at the water's edge.
"My dog ran to the hand and was intently sniffing it and when I walked over we checked it out, flipped it over, and noticed the thumb bone, the wrist still attached and what looked like skin still in spots," Fitzpatrick said. "I didn't know what really to do and at first we left it, but when we went home we decided we should better call the police, just in case."

Steven Fitzpatrick's dog led him to a grisly discovery Saturday afternoon at Osborne Bay.

The excitement was short-lived, however, as local authorities have confirmed that forensic pathologists say the appendage doesn't belong to a person. "It is definitely not a human hand," Const. Markus Lueder, spokesman for the North Cowichan/ Duncan RCMP, said Monday morning.
"I would love to know what it is when they find out," Fitzpatrick said.
Lueder had his own hypothesis.
"It's probably a seal paw," said the officer.
The incident is not unlike a February 2009 discovery in Ladysmith in which what appeared to be a hand was found. It turned out to be the remains of an animal paw.
© Cowichan Valley Citizen 2011


Crofton find not a severed hand
Police have confirmed that what first appeared to be a severed hand found on the beach at Crofton is not human.
“A fellow was walking his dog on the beach in Crofton on Saturday afternoon and came across what he thought to be a human appendage, a hand,” North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Cpl. Kevin Day said on Monday.
Police were called at the time and arrived on scene with police dog, forensic and coroner service personnel.
“Photographs of the appendage were forwarded to a forensic pathologist, who as of this morning was able to confirm that (the remains) are non-human,” Day said. “It’s either a marine mammal, or an animal of some sort. It certainly had the appearance at first glance of a possible human appendage, but we’ve confirmed that it’s not.”