SAN JOSE, Calif. - The finger that a woman said she found in a bowl of WendyÂ’s chili came from an associate of her husband who lost the digit in an industrial accident, police said Friday.
“The jig is up. The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place,” Police Chief Rob Davis said.
The man is from Nevada and lost a part of his finger in an accident last December, Davis said. His identity was traced through a tip made to WendyÂ’s hot line, he said.
He said authorities “positively confirmed that this subject was in fact the source of the fingertip.”
Anna Ayala, the woman who said she found the finger, was arrested last month at her suburban Las Vegas home.
Ayala said she bit down on a 1 1/2 inch-long finger fragment while dining with her family in March at a San Jose WendyÂ’s.
But authorities had said they believed the story was a hoax.
AyalaÂ’s husband, Jaime Plascencia, was arrested earlier this month on a fugitive warrant at the coupleÂ’s home to face charges unrelated to the WendyÂ’s case. San Jose police had said he used his childrenÂ’s personal information in a fraudulent manner for personal gain, and he was charged with identity theft, fraudulent use of official documents, failure to pay child support and child abandonment.
The man who lost the finger, whose name was not released, had given the finger fragment to Plascencia, Davis said.
A phone call to AyalaÂ’s attorney on Friday was not immediately returned.
WendyÂ’s has offered a $100,000 reward and has said it has lost millions in sales since Ayala made the claim. Dozens of employees at the companyÂ’s Northern California franchises also have been laid off.
“There are victims in this case that have suffered greatly,” Davis said.
WendyÂ’s had said all the employees at the San Jose store were found to have all their fingers, and no suppliers of WendyÂ’s ingredients have reported any hand or finger injuries.