Last Ike Victim: Who Is the Web-Footed Woman?

Photo by Bill Olive

A tip about a son in California jail didn't work out

They know she's a five-foot-tall middle-aged woman who wore a 34C bra, had a surgery scar above the pubic region, and oh, she also had a webbed left foot.

No one's missing a web-footed woman after two years?

Officials thought they had a chance when a resident thought the missing woman might have been a friend, the Galveston County Daily News reports. The friend had mentioned a son incarcerated in California, so officials sent a DNA sample to the prison system there.

It came back negative.

The woman was found on Pelican Island 16 days after Ike hit in September 2008. People who believed she might be a relative have submitted DNA samples to the county, but none have matched.

What's next?

County officials say they will forward the woman's profile on to DPS' office for missing and unidentified persons; it's possible they will commission a police sketch and try to get it publicized.

After two years, though, no real relative has come forward to ask about the woman, meaning, we guess, she had no close friends or relatives or none that knew she was living in Galveston as Ike hit. At least 21 Galveston County residents died as a result of the storm.

She was found wearing only a tank top and a beaded anklet, if that helps.