San Jose, Calif. ? The mysterious finger that a woman claimed to have found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili came from an associate of her husband who lost the finger in an industrial accident, police said Friday.

“The jig is up. The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place, and the truth is being exposed,” Police Chief Rob Davis said.

The discovery of the finger’s owner marks a significant break in a case that has confounded authorities for nearly two months, since Anna Ayala claimed she bit down on the well-manicured, 1 1/2-inch finger in a mouthful of her steamy chili.

The case became the talk of the Internet and late-night talk shows and spawned numerous bizarre tips and theories about the source of the finger, including one about a woman whose fingertip was bitten off by a spotted leopard kept as a pet.

Authorities said last month they thought the story was a hoax, and they arrested the 39-year-old Ayala at her home in Las Vegas and charged her with attempted grand larceny for allegedly trying to shake down Wendy’s. But whose finger was in the chili remained a mystery.

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.

Davis said the Nevada man, whose name was not released, was cooperating. The police chief would not say if the man was in on the alleged hoax.

Police think 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.

During the investigation, Wendy’s said no employees at the San Jose store had missing fingers, and no suppliers of Wendy’s ingredients had reported any finger injuries. Authorities reported that there was no evidence the finger had been cooked, and 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.

Wendy’s has offered a $100,000 reward and has said it has lost millions in sales since Ayala made the claim while visiting her family in San Jose. Dozens of employees at the company’s Northern California franchises have been laid off.