Police find owner of Wendy's chili finger

May 16, 2005

On May 13, San Jose police announced they identified the person whose finger tip Anna Ayala claimed she found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Police say that Ayala's husband, James Plascencia, was a work associate of the man who five months ago lost the finger tip in work related accident.

The owner of the finger, Brian Paul Rossiter, lost his finger tip while working at an asphalt company back in December 2004. Police were able to trace it after receiving information from Pat Hogue, who called a Wendy's hot-line. Hogue worked as a cost estimator at an asphalt company at the same time as the co-workers Pascencia and the man who lost the portion of his little finger.

The tipster was unaware, until after Ayala's arrest, of the connection between the Wendy's "finger-pointer" and her husband Plascencia. The finger was given to Ayala's husband as payment for a $50 debt. They do not know how it was transported or preserved during the five months until it turned up in the bowl of chili. More arrests are possible, according to police.

Anna Ayala was arrested on April 21. She has been charged with one count of attempted grand theft in connection with the Wendy’s incident, and one count of grand theft in an unrelated mobile home sale.