Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 376: Confirming the Victim’s Identity
Based on extensive past experience in solving cases, after committing a murder and disposing of the body nearby, the perpetrator usually opts to bury the body. If the body is disposed of at a distance, it is generally abandoned.
This is due to the natural psychological patterns of humans, where most people feel a natural sense of security near their homes.
They are relatively familiar with the geographical situation and people flow around their residence, making it easier to choose a spot to bury the body and take their time.
However, disposing of a body at a distance is different. Perpetrators disposing of a body far away usually do it quickly and subconsciously because they are unfamiliar with the area and fear being discovered, so they complete the task as quickly as possible and leave.
It’s extremely rare for a perpetrator to choose a completely unfamiliar location to dig a pit and bury a body.
However, every rule has its exceptions.
Ren Qiang shook his head.
"Not necessarily. Do you remember the case report in Qinzhou five years ago? The perpetrator dumped the body right at their doorstep."
"Back then, everyone speculated the body was disposed of far away but buried nearby. But in the end, the perpetrator just dumped the body at their doorstep."
Regardless of the perpetrator’s situation, the clues obtained from visits and investigations are extremely limited.
The stench at the Warehouse Valley landfill is strong. Generally, the nearby villagers don’t come here; only some scavengers come to dig through the trash.
Moreover, this place doesn’t have surveillance cameras. If the perpetrator came here at night, no one would possibly notice.
"How’s the comparison with the missing person database going?"
"We’ve compared recent missing persons from our city but found nothing. It’s up to Crime Scene Investigation now."
The deceased’s body showed some mold, but the facial features were still recognizable.
Upon discovering the body, the Criminal Investigation Team staff immediately collected the deceased’s facial images and compared them with recently missing persons in Haizhou City, but unfortunately, they found nothing.
This leads to two possibilities: either the deceased’s family did not report them missing, or the person is not within Haizhou City’s missing persons range.
The deceased was wearing a valuable diamond ring on their hand, and the necklace of colored gold around their neck appeared to be a brand name, which suggests the deceased’s family was quite affluent.
Generally speaking, the possibility of someone from such a background going missing without being reported as such is small.
Ren Qiang believes the likelihood is greatest that the person is a missing individual from another city.
But there is no way right now. Since the appearance didn’t match, they can only wait for the fingerprint analysis or DNA identification from the Crime Scene Investigation team.
Forensic Laboratory.
"Confirmed, there are signs of secondary mold growth, with different types of mold present."
It was Shen Yan’s first time seeing a moldy body, previously having only seen them in videos.
So, this was a rare learning opportunity.
"In recent years, the number of moldy bodies has decreased. In the past, moldy bodies were particularly common."
Wang Changjiang remarked as he conducted the examination.
"About ten or twenty years ago, living conditions were poor. Unlike now, when everyone lives in apartment buildings, back then, people lived in bungalows where humidity was high. A few days after death, mold could begin to form in most houses."
"Now, decomposition doesn’t necessarily lead to mold."
"Shen, come over and take a look. These areas showing mold spots are our focus in examinations because they can possibly obscure wounds or other marks."
"Look beneath these mycelium; there’s a layer of cohesive gray matter, which is already dead mycelium..."
"Execute a test, see what these mycelium are most likely resulting from mold occurring during the refrigeration process..."
"However, if it’s mold from refrigeration... then the time of death is unlikely to be a month ago. Exact timing depends on lab results..."
In most cases, the likelihood of mold developing during refrigeration is low, unless the temperature is not low enough or hygiene is quite poor.
But for a body to develop mold under refrigeration, the time cannot be short.
Yet the body found at the landfill had relatively little decay, approximately less than a month old.
Of course, this is because the body was sealed in a suitcase and covered with trash; otherwise, it would have rotted away long ago.
"Let’s perform an autopsy to see if we can determine the time of death through changes in the organs."
Determining the time of death is a comprehensive assessment.
Generally, the determination can be made through visible signs such as livor mortis and rigor mortis.
For bodies with a prolonged post-mortem interval, assessments can be made based on the degree of decomposition or generational growth of maggots.
The most challenging aspect for forensic doctors is determining the time of death for refrigerated bodies.
Just like the current body.
The body shows mold, but the mold happened at the landfill, which allows us to determine the defrosting time, approximately a month ago. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
But the time of death?
A year?
Two years?
The back of the body shows mesh-like imprints but no livor mortis, indicating that the body was not immediately frozen after death.
The freezing occurred after the livor mortis disappeared and rigor mortis was no longer present.
Also, from the dismembered thighs and arms, it is clear the perpetrator did this to facilitate dismembering the body.
But how long this refrigeration lasted...
Judging by the mold developed through the freezing process, it would take at least more than half a year.
Otherwise, it is difficult for mold to form on refrigerated bodies in less than that time span.
Lu Chuan’s fingerprint identification analysis corroborated Wang Changjiang’s autopsy conclusion.
The deceased’s fingerprints were matched successfully, confirming the identity.
Wang Lili, female, thirty-two years old, from Huangzhou, reported missing since March last year, now one year and three months.
As soon as the deceased’s identity was verified, Lu Chuan disseminated the information.
The fingerprints on the suitcase were left by scavengers.
"It’s actually someone from Huangzhou?"
Ren Qiang was somewhat surprised when he received the information.
After the victim did not match with Haizhou City’s missing persons, Ren Qiang speculated the person might be from another city, but he didn’t expect it to be from Huangzhou.
Huangzhou isn’t just hundreds of kilometers from Haizhou City; it’s over a thousand kilometers.
How did the perpetrator manage such a long distance?
Considering the missing person was reported in Huangzhou, it suggests Wang Lili disappeared there and possibly was murdered in Huangzhou.
Killed in Huangzhou and the body discarded in Haizhou City, this long-distance disposal seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it?
Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night as the forensic team continues the autopsy, analyzing the time of the deceased’s death.
The cause of death is clear, stabbing in the chest with a sharp weapon caused death.
But the time of death...
The time of disappearance does not necessarily indicate when the person died.
After completing the fingerprint analysis and confirming the identity, Lu Chuan went to the basement to assist.
Old Bai’s DNA identification was nearing completion, with results soon to corroborate Lu’s fingerprint identification.
The process is quite complex; the micro-evidence analysis experiments tend to be laborious.
