Giving Wendy's the Finger

That tasty finger chili? AP's Greg Sandoval reports that

The mysterious finger that a woman claimed to have found in a bowl of Wendy's chili came from an associate of her [Ayala's] husband who lost the finger in an industrial accident, police said Friday.
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The owner was traced through a tip made to a Wendy's hot line, Davis said. He said the man lost the finger in December, and authorities "positively confirmed that this subject was in fact the source of the fingertip." The nature of the industrial accident was not disclosed.
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Police believe the man gave the finger fragment to Ayala's husband, Jaime Plascencia, who was arrested this month on identity-theft charges unrelated to the Wendy's case.

...Authorities reported that there was no evidence the finger had been cooked, and also said Ayala had a history of filing claims against businesses.

Sgt. Nick Muyo said someone other than the man who lost the finger called in the tip to the hot line.
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The Nevada agency that investigates industrial accidents has no record of a worker injury like the one San Jose police described, said Tom Czehowski, chief administrator of the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nevada employers are only required to report deaths or injuries causing the hospitalization of three or more employees, he said.

A little Friday speculation: A guy loses his finger in an accident and does what? reports it to his supervisor in between screams? goes to the hospital? If he goes to the hospital, does he take the finger with him? If he (for whatever shady reason) gave it to Ayala's husband, then either he found the finger or someone found it and gave it to him. Maybe it was too late to reattach it, in which case, his friend's wife, who likes suing people, says, "Gimme the finger and I'll pretend I found it in chili." But what do I know? Hopefully, the reporters on the case will tell us soon so we can have a TV feeding frenzy over the decline of American values thanks to the onslaught of Hollywood and popular music as well as to the Supreme Court's banishment of God from the classroom; the high incidence of fraud and "frivolous lawsuits"; and the lack of appreciation for the sacred nature of limbs and digits, which God in His wisdom intended to remain attached to the body and not treated in a trivial manner.

UPDATE: AP reports finger "severed in the tailgate of a truck during a work accident."