Police Probe Woman Who Found Finger

April 8, 2005 — -- Police have searched the Las Vegas home of the woman who claims she found a human fingertip in a bowl of chili at a San Jose, Calif., Wendy's restaurant last month.

San Jose and Las Vegas executed the search warrant for Anna Ayala's home on Wednesday. Authorities said it is part of an ongoing investigation into where the finger came from.

"We are looking into every aspect in this case," San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten told The Associated Press. "We are talking to people she knows as well as the finder of the finger. ... We want to determine who this finger belongs to and how it ended up in a bowlof chili."

The alleged victim says she is not pleased about the latest turn in the case.

"You know what, I'm sick of it," said Ayala, 39. "I'm tired of it."

Her son said the search warrant mentioned the possibility that the fingertip came from Ayala's dead aunt, though police would not confirm that detail.

"Knowing that there was a human remain in my mouth … it is disgusting," Ayala told ABC News' "Good Morning America" shortly after reporting the grisly discovery. "It is tearing me apart inside."

Wendy's has been conducting its own investigation. So far, it has found no indication the partial finger came from one of its employees.

"We are confident at this present time … [that] the source did not come out of our restaurant," said Steve Jay, Wendy's West Coast corporate spokesman.

Wendy's officials told ABC News San Francisco station KGO-TV that they have checked all of the employees in the San Jose area and no one was missing a finger. They also contacted the company's suppliers, and no one in the area reported any finger or hand problems.

Wendy's has offered a $50,000 reward to the first person providing verifiable information leading to the positive identification of the origin of the finger. The Santa Clara County coroner's office, using a partial fingerprint to attempt to find a match in an electronic database, came up empty. DNA testing is still being conducted.