A Scottish widow has described a moment of pure horror after discovering parts of her deceased husband's feet inside a pair of his socks, which were returned to her among his personal belongings.
A Discovery Like a Horror Film
Annette Federspiel, 58, from Dunoon, said the traumatic find was "like something out of a horror film". The incident occurred last week when she received a bag of her husband Mark's items from funeral directors. She noticed a foul smell and that a pair of socks were unusually heavy.
"I put my hands in and I touched Mark’s feet," Annette recounted. "I started howling and ran into the kitchen to get gloves and I put my hands back into the socks and pulled out the soles of Mark’s feet." She discovered the soles and heels of his feet still attached to the fabric.
The Tragic Background of Mark Federspiel
Her husband, Mark Federspiel, 64, died after falling overboard from a ferry travelling to Dunoon on Father's Day, June 15. He had been returning home with Annette after visiting their 22-year-old daughter on the mainland. Mark was reported missing at around 1pm after failing to return from the toilet, prompting a major multi-agency search.
His body was discovered on Kilcreggan Beach on the Rosneath Peninsula on October 12. Mark, a former US Navy diver nicknamed "Mark the Shark", had been receiving treatment for a rare form of leukaemia, with drug side-effects sometimes leaving him unsteady. The couple had recently moved to Dunoon from the United States and were looking forward to retirement. He was given a military send-off on November 12.
Questions Over the Handling of Remains
Following a post-mortem, Police Scotland gave clearance for Caladh Funeral Directors to collect Mark's body and belongings. It was this bag that was later handed to his widow. Annette was left distraught, questioning how such an error could occur. "What had happened to Mark? Did no one realise his feet were hanging off in the mortuary?" she asked.
Her 87-year-old father had to secure the bag containing the remains before the funeral home could collect it. Police Scotland has stated it was not involved in returning the belongings, with a spokesperson confirming, "Police Scotland did not return any belongings in this case." The force had earlier confirmed his death was not being treated as suspicious.
A spokesperson for Caladh Funeral Directors said: "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on the specifics of individual cases, in order to protect the privacy of the families we support. We understand how sensitive these situations are, and our priority is always to provide care, compassion and dignity."
