On Dec. 30, 2010, the lower half of a human man’s leg was found on a beach. The leg was “intact below the knee, appeared to have possibly been in the ocean for several weeks,” said a police spokesperson.
A DNA sample was uploaded to the California Department of Justice’s Missing and Unidentified Persons Section database and has received no matches. No known missing person’s report could be matched to the leg.
Initial Forensic Genetic Genealogy testing has identified the leg as belonging to a Southeast Asian male (Vietnamese, Cambodian, or Laotian). The forensic anthropologist has tentatively identified the man’s age as being between 20 to 50 years old.
Monterey police hope that people in the community will be able to help identify the leg’s owner. This will also indicate how the leg ended up in Monterey Bay and the circumstances surrounding the presumed death.
Anyone with information is asked to call Monterey Police Department cold case investigator Bill Clark, assigned to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force.
He can be reached at 831-646-3971 or by email at [email protected].