Updated Nov. 11

Two days after reporting that a shoe was found on Port Williams Beach in Sequim and believed to have human remains inside it, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office reports that the remains actually belong to a bear.

The Sheriff’s Office stated in a Dec. 11 press release that the Clallam County Coroner’s Office sent the remains to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office which determined that the bone and tissue material inside the shoe was of bear origin, and no human biological matter was present.

It is unknown how bear bone and tissue came to be located inside the shoe that washed ashore, Chief Criminal Deputy Amy Bundy wrote in a press release.

No additional related items were located in the area, Bundy wrote.

A Sequim resident called 911 at 8:26 a.m. on Dec. 9 to report they found a shoe with suspected human remains at Marlyn Nelson County Park at Port Williams in Sequim.

A deputy responded and confirmed the presence of bones and tissue inside the shoe, Bundy wrote.

The shoe was about 50 feet north of the Port Williams Beach boat launch, she wrote.

Deputies described the shoe as a white Puma sneaker with green and blue “Sharpie” marker colorings covering the exterior.

Its size information printed on the tongue’s tag lists the shoe as European size 35.5, U.S. size 4C, and 22 centimeters in length. Based on typical U.S. shoe standards, the length corresponds to approximately a women’s size 5 to 5.5.

The shoe and remains were sent to the Clallam County Coroner’s Office and then sent to King County Medical Examiner’s Office for further forensic examination.

In 2023, a crowdfunding effort helped pay for advanced forensic DNA technology by Othram Labs to identify found remains of Jerilyn Smith of Sequim. She was reported missing on Jan. 7, 2018, and one of her feet was discovered at the mouth of the Elwha River in December 2021.