Chapter 1037: Establishing Time of Death

If the identity of the deceased can be confirmed in Nangang Village, the case would be relatively easier to solve. The killer might be a local from the village who chose to dispose of the body nearby.

However, since the identity of the deceased is still not confirmed, we can only wait until tomorrow to retrieve the materials for DNA comparison.

Early the next morning, Lu Chuan and his team hurried to the scene in Nangang Village.

Having spent an entire afternoon digging yesterday, everyone had become somewhat accustomed to the task, which made today’s progress relatively quicker.

As the deputy director in charge of administration, Lu Chuan naturally couldn’t just stand by and watch, so he, too, went down into the reservoir at one point.

By around 3 PM, the reservoir was nearly completely drained.

What remained was to extract the skeletal remains.

Once all the water was removed, the entire skeleton was exposed.

Some bones could be taken out intact, but others had scattered into the silt; fortunately, there were previous photos and video recordings from the instruments that allowed for a complete reconstruction of the skeleton’s form.

The entire excavation proceeded smoothly, and by around 7 PM, Han Guo had been sent to the Criminal Investigation Team.

Lu Chuan personally managed the identification and analysis of the bones.

The first step was to extract DNA information from the bones, in hopes of matching it with someone in the database. That would be ideal.

Of course, the likelihood of this happening is very small.

When the bones were extracted, the outer clothing was not completely decomposed.

The lower body was dressed in denim shorts, and the upper body in a floral short-sleeved shirt.

"Based on the clothing on the child, it can be determined that the victim died in the summer."

While Lu Chuan conducted his inspection, the forensic doctor from the Criminal Investigation Team began taking notes.

"There is evidence of blunt force trauma on the frontal part of the skull."

Lu Chuan lifted the skull for a closer look. Above the right eye of the skull, there was a very distinct mark of blunt force trauma, causing the skull to fracture.

The blunt force trauma identified by Lu Chuan was severe, resulting in an inward collapse of the skull, which was likely the main cause of the victim’s death.

However, because these are skeletal remains, it’s impossible to definitively determine the cause of death, only to make supplementary judgments.

"From the wear on the teeth, the victim’s age was approximately between 25 and 28 years old. The pelvis was narrow without childbirth marks; the victim had no history of childbirth."

"Height...158..."

Additionally, the skeleton was wearing a pair of sandals on its feet.

Lu Chuan carefully studied the wear on the sandals.

The sandals were made entirely of plastic.

Based on their style, they appeared to be several years old.

Judging by the wear, they had been used for approximately two to three years.

The analysis of the skeletal remains was relatively rapid, taking less than two hours for Lu Chuan to gather some clues.

In the conference room, Lu Chuan was organizing and deploying efforts regarding the search for missing persons.

"The deceased is a woman, with a height of 1.58 meters, and an age between 25 and 28 years old."

"Before death, she was wearing denim shorts and a floral short-sleeved shirt."

"Estimated time of death is approximately three years ago."

In reality, accurately estimating the time of death is quite challenging.

The time it takes for a body to become skeletal varies greatly depending on different natural environments.

Lu Chuan could only estimate the timeframe based on the condition of the clothing and the wear on the sandals.

The task now is to fully confirm the identity of the deceased.

Lu Chuan then returned to the forensic office to continue his research.

From the current findings, the skull trauma seems to be the main cause of the victim’s death.

"Director Lu, have you found anything?"

The forensic doctor from the Criminal Investigation Team noticed that Lu Chuan kept focusing on the marks on the skull.

Lu Chuan nodded: "There is a clue, primarily concerning the location of the trauma."

Lu Chuan pointed at a mark on the skull: "The mark on the skull was caused by a blunt object. Considering the fine cracks and fragmented marks, it was likely a stone-like object."

"Moreover, look at the location of the trauma."

The forensic doctor came over to observe; the trauma was concentrated above the right eye, roughly at the top of the head.

"Generally speaking, if two people are grappling and one strikes the face with a hammer, the resulting cranial trauma would more likely occur at the back of the head or the front."

Lu Chuan gently touched the mark on the skull: "But this trauma is located on top of the head. What bodily position would lead to an injury in this area?"

The forensic doctor frowned, gesturing with their hands...

"It should be from the back, an attack from behind, and the assailant was taller, allowing them to inflict such damage to the top of the victim’s head from this angle!"

Only then did the forensic doctor realize that Lu Chuan was reconstructing details of the crime scene by analyzing the positioning of the marks on the skeleton.

"Exactly, the victim’s height is 1.58 meters, increasing to about 1.6 meters with shoes, and this mark suggests the assailant attacked from behind."

After a careful examination, Lu Chuan stood up and mimed an attack from behind.

He then asked, "In what scenario would the victim be attacked from behind without being on guard or resisting?"

The forensic doctor immediately answered: "An acquaintance! It must be someone very familiar!"

Lu Chuan nodded in agreement.

That was the conclusion.

Moreover, based on the victim’s injuries, Lu Chuan inferred that the perpetrator was about 1.8 meters tall.

Only an individual of this height could inflict such an injury.

Of course, one cannot exclude the possibility of a shorter assailant striking from an elevated platform.

However, this possibility is relatively low.

Additionally, Lu Chuan conjectured that the crime scene was most likely the primary scene.

The rationale behind this inference is that the victim’s body was positioned headfirst, and the impact caused a fracture of the cervical vertebrae, which resulted in the skull floating upwards.

Although this is just a hypothesis, Lu Chuan and his team had already surveyed the surroundings of the crime scene without any discoveries.

A few stones were collected from the area and compared, but none matched the shape of the marks on the victim’s skull.

It’s possible the perpetrator took the stone away, as it might have carried their fingerprints, or it could have been picked up by nearby villagers.

These possibilities are all probable, as Wang Zhaokai and his team discovered during their visits to villagers in Nangang Village.

The pond was not far from the village, surrounded by many stones, which villagers sometimes took for building when constructing houses.

"Moreover, look at the direction of the impact mark - it’s a left-to-right impact."

The direction of the wound can indicate where the force came from.

"All of these impact marks, these fractures, show a left-to-right pattern, and if the assailant attacked from behind, given a normal stance..."

Lu Chuan stood up, picked up a pen holder from the table, swung it in the air, and tried to mimic a striking motion.