Man shocked to find leg still attached to boot pulled from river

RCMP are still working to identify human remains found in the Red River near Selkirk.

Only partial remains were recovered from the river, RCMP spokesperson Bert Paquet confirmed on Wednesday morning.

Keith Loutit made the discovery when he was at a dock on the river around 7:30 p.m. Monday. He was showing a Sea-Doo he was selling and the person looking to buy it was backing it out for a test ride.

That's when they noticed a boot floating beside the dock.

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Loutit pulled it up and was taken aback to see part of a leg still attached.

"Just past the knee into the thigh area," he said. "You're shocked that there actually was something there more than a boot. You don't expect to pull anything out like that."

That's when RCMP were called. Police spent all day at the scene near Gowryluk Road on Tuesday.

The boot appeared to belong to a woman but "the decomposition was pretty bad" on the leg and there wasn't any other clothing, Loutit said.

"I hope whoever lost their family [member] gets some closure," Loutit said.

The family of missing woman Thelma Krullwere struck by news remains had been found with a boot similar to the one Krull was last seen in.

"For closure you have that moment where you hope it is and then, very quickly, you realizethat would mean she's gone for sure," saidConnie Muscat, a close friend to the Krull family.

Muscat said; however, RCMPconfirmed theremains found in Selkirkwere not Krull's.

"We don't believe it to beThelma," she said.

Paquet said officers from specialized sections of the RCMP are investigating the discovery.

"We do not have an identity (or gender) at this time," Paquet said in an email sent Wednesday morning.

The area where the remains were found is about 35 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

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RAW: Keith Loutit discovered human remains in the Red River near Selkirk

8 years ago

Duration 0:56

Keith Loutit made the discovery Monday evening. He was at a dock near the city, and spotted a hiking boot in the water. Loutit was shocked when he pulled it up and saw a leg attached to the boot.