http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/13/state/n155859D43.DTLThe Las Vegas woman who claimed she bit into a human finger along with her Wendy's chili has decided not to sue, her lawyer confirmed Wednesday. He wouldn't say whether that decision was prompted by a report that a woman in Nevada had lost her finger a month earlier in a leopard attack — and that it might be related to Anna Ayala's claim.
Attorney Jeffrey Janoff said Ayala was dropping her claim because after police investigations, DNA tests, a search of her home and intense publicity, "it's been very difficult for her emotionally."
San Jose police said they were investigating a possible connection to the finger of a woman who owned several exotic animals and lost her digit in a leopard attack on Feb. 23. That woman, Sandy Allman, reportedly got her finger back in a bag of ice, and it could not be reattached after the attack in Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.
"We're talking to the woman who lost the finger," San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten said Wednesday, adding that authorities are receiving many tips from around the country about lost digits. She said one woman reported she lost a finger while breaking up a dog fight, "and apparently the hospital lost her finger."