ELYRIA TWP. — Investigators believe a severed human foot and part of a leg found Monday night by four teenagers near abandoned train tracks that cross state Route 57 may have belonged to a white female.

Lorain County sheriff’s Capt. John Reiber said a  preliminary examination by county Coroner Paul Matus determined the foot belonged to a woman in between 47 and 60 years of age.

Reiber said Matus determined that the foot, which was wearing a dark-colored sock, was recently severed by traumatic impact.

Brandan Hartman, 18, said he and three friends were walking to another friends house and cut through a wooded area when they first saw the foot around 5:30 p.m. Monday. They initially believed it was a fake foot.

But when they returned around 7:45 p.m., Hartman said he and his friends checked on the foot again, going so far as to poke it with sticks.

That convinced them the foot was real and they hurried to Hartman’s house, where his mother called police.

Reiber said the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is being asked to call deputies at (440) 329-3710.

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Chronicle.

EARLIER STORY

ELYRIA TWP. — Four teenagers walking near the abandoned train tracks near state Route 57 found a human foot still attached to the lower part of a leg Monday night.

The find was reported to sheriff’s deputies a little after 8 p.m.

Lorain County Sheriff’s Capt. John Reiber said deputies have searched the area and found no other body parts.

A photo of the remains obtained by The Chronicle shows the still-bloody foot against a piece of concrete.

The foot, which belonged to a white person, was wearing a dark-colored sock and has been turned over to county Coroner Paul Matus to examine.

Reiber said the foot doesn’t appear to have been there for very long.

“It’s very fresh,” he said.

Reiber said he has no idea how the foot got there, but deputies have launched an investigation and begun scouring missing persons reports in the area for information. So far, nothing has turned up, he said.

Read Wednesday’s Chronicle for more on this story.