Tragedy strikes Yukon: Manhunt for toe thief

[viper37]

Man sought in theft of famous 'Sourtoe Cocktail' toe from Yukon bar

On Saturday, an unknown patron stole the toe — worth an estimated $80,000 — for the first time in years and police are hot on his heels

A man walked into a bar on Saturday night and walked out with a human toe worth $80,000. He is now being hunted by the police.
So began the latest episode in the saga of the Sourtoe Cocktail, the most famous drink in Dawson City, Yukon. For more than 40 years, thousands of Yukoners and tourists have ordered the drink at Dawson's Downtown Hotel — a cocktail of their choice served with a gnarled, desiccated human toe floating in it.
Back in 2013, a man deliberately swallowed the toe, an incident so infamous it was the subject of a short CBC documentary. But last weekend, a patron stole the toe (without ingesting it) for the first time in many years. And the hotel's "Toe Captain," Terry Lee, wants it back.
"I'm really attached to that toe," Lee told the National Post from the bar on Monday night. "He's in deep trouble."
At the Downtown, toe time usually runs from 9 to 11 p.m. Customers order their drink from Lee (according to health regulations, the digit has to be served hard liquor "that'll kill anything including you, if you drink too much of it," he said) and then down it, letting the severed toe brush their lips.
As the local saying goes, "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe."
But last weekend, a couple walked into the bar around 12:30 a.m., after Lee had left, and asked to do the toe. A bartender served them the drink, and when she turned her back, Lee said, the man — apparently from Quebec — pocketed the toe and left.
In Dawson, this is no small act of mischief. "(The toe) is an institution in Dawson," Lee said. "When someone frigs around with it, there goes our institution."
Since the tradition was established in 1973, when Capt. Dick Stevenson, a former Yukon riverboat captain, found a preserved toe in an abandoned cabin and decided to give it new life, several digits have gone missing. Outright theft, however, is less common than ingestion.
The original toe was accidentally swallowed in 1980 by a miner named Garry Younger, as the story goes. And in 2013, Joshua Clark swallowed the toe on purpose, slapped the $500 toe-swallowing fine on the bar and left. (The fine was immediately hiked to $2,500 in response.)
Geri Coulbourne, manager of the Downtown, said she only knows of one other stolen toe, which was pocketed by a member of the Royal Regiment of Canada in the 1970s.
It seems unlikely that this thief will get very far: he apparently left behind his Sourtoe Cocktail certificate — a souvenir given to those who gulp down the drink — inscribed with his name. "If you're going to be a thief, at least take all your stuff with you," Coulbourne said. There were also witnesses in the bar, one of whom had taken the man's photo and emailed it to him. The police now have all that information and are investigating the crime.
But Lee worries he won't get the toe back unscathed.
"He might do something to it. I don't know what kind of guy he is. ... We'll probably have to drop it off at a hospital before we can serve it again."
Meanwhile, Coulbourne is already putting out a call for freshly severed toes.
"We do have more toes, one or two, but that was our best one," she said. "It was new. The toes, we can only use them for four or five years and then they disintegrate."
Smaller toes have been used on occasion, but big toes are preferred. Over the years, she said, most toes have been donated to the Downtown after being surgically or accidentally cut off.
"People have tried to will us their toes, but then it's really hard because you have to get someone ... to actually cut it off," she explained.
Usually, hospitals will preserve the severed toes in alcohol. Once they get to Dawson, they'll be cured in salt for about six months before they're ready to serve.
Coulbourne does have a few leads on new cocktail garnishes. She knows one man who plans to donate an amputated toe — and then visit Dawson six months later, so he can drink a cocktail with his own toe in it. But for the time being, the Downtown is using its backup, older big toe.

Still, Coulbourne and Lee aren't about to let this one go. The toe is a major tourist attraction in Dawson — as of Monday night, 71,298 people had ordered the cocktail since 1973. "That toe is worth $80,000 in gross revenue," Lee said.
For now, he's going to milk the story for all it's worth.
"He gave us a lemon, we have egg on our face, so we might as well make lemon meringue pie."

Volunteers are sought to replace the missing toe.  If you happen to find one, or have one spare, please contact the Toe Captain Hotel.

[Malthus]

A bartender served them the drink, and when she turned her back, Lee said, the man — apparently from Quebec — pocketed the toe and left.

Have something to confess, V? BB is standing by to prosecute.

[The Brain]

Did he say he was from Quebec in a heavy Polish accent?

[Barrister]

I've had the Sour Toe cocktail.

Article is a little bit overly dramatic - they do have multiple toes.  People leave 'em to the Downtown Hotel in their will.  But when I had the toe I was told that you had to have it with Yukon Jack liqueur.

[viper37]

A bartender served them the drink, and when she turned her back, Lee said, the man — apparently from Quebec — pocketed the toe and left.

Have something to confess, V? BB is standing by to prosecute.

I have the right to remain silent.   

[CountDeMoney]

The author of that piece needs to reexamine her life, and ask herself what wrong path she took to write a piece with that many puns in it, without even being on local affiliate television news.

[Admiral Yi]

Isn't cannibalism illegal in Canada? 

[CountDeMoney]

That really would suck if that's how they're passing it down from generation to generation.

[viper37]

Isn't cannibalism illegal in Canada? 

you're not required to eat it.

[Admiral Yi]

you're not required to eat it.

The toe dissolves over time.  You're drinking a little bit of dissolved toe.

[Barrister]

you're not required to eat it.

The toe dissolves over time.  You're drinking a little bit of dissolved toe.

The toe is stored in salt.  It's like putting a piece of beef jerky in your drink.

[Admiral Yi]

The toe is stored in salt.  It's like putting a piece of beef jerky in your drink.

It's like putting a piece of long pig jerky that dissolves in your drink a little into your drink.

[CountDeMoney]

ENOUGH ALREADY

[Barrister]

The toe is stored in salt.  It's like putting a piece of beef jerky in your drink.

It's like putting a piece of long pig jerky that dissolves in your drink a little into your drink.

Having, you know, actually drank a Sour Toe Cocktail (wow I never thought this would come up for conversation on Languish), it's little more than bone, skin, and one gnarly toenail.

[Admiral Yi]

Having, you know, actually drank a Sour Toe Cocktail (wow I never thought this would come up for conversation on Languish), it's little more than bone, skin, and one gnarly toenail.

Skin doesn't fall under the cannibalism statute?  Don't see the relevance of your comment counselor.