Chapter 1039: Confirming the Identity

Currently, regarding the estimated time of death, there was only a preliminary speculation made nine years ago, but specific circumstances still need to be verified in the village.

Wang Zhaokai immediately took people to the village for further verification, while Lu Chuan had already organized people to begin comparisons with four types of personnel from nine years ago.

Although the time of death has been determined to be nine years ago, the comparison involves ten individuals, which is relatively large, and it’s impossible to complete the comparison quickly.

An hour and a half later, Wang Zhaokai had brought people to Nangang Village.

The elderly owner of the reservoir was interviewed in detail once again.

"This reservoir was previously used for irrigation. After my husband passed away, the farmland was no longer cultivated, and the reservoir hasn’t been used since."

According to what the elderly woman said, during the times when water was pumped out, it was done using a pump.

This created a powerful water flow impact that indeed could have caused the displacement of decomposing bones.

"Afterwards, was the reservoir ever inspected?"

The elderly woman shook her head, saying that since her husband’s passing, no one ever went to the reservoir again, and their family did not inspect it anymore—it was completely abandoned.

After Wang Zhaokai confirmed the information, he immediately called Lu Chuan to affirm the details.

With the information received, Lu Chuan mobilized all the forces to thoroughly check the information on people who disappeared nine years ago.

First, they filtered the personnel information through the system to locate all missing women from that year and then extended the comparison by age.

Female, 158 cm tall, wearing denim shorts at the time of her disappearance with a printed short-sleeved top...

Soon, several suspects came into the police’s sight.

In the conference room, Chen Jiang was reporting to Lu Chuan.

"The first person is named Wang Xiaofang who disappeared nine years ago. At the time of disappearance, she was 27, and according to her family, on the day of the incident, she wore denim shorts and a printed short-sleeve top."

The screen showed a photo of a young woman.

"Additionally, there are two people, one named Zhang Xiaohui, another named Zhao Xiaowan."

Photos of the other two women appeared on the screen; according to current comparisons, the ages, heights, and attire at the time of disappearance of these three individuals were very similar to the victim’s.

Because it had been too long, the original victim’s printed short-sleeved shirt’s exact color and pattern were unclear, so it was temporarily impossible to make a definitive identification.

"We have already contacted the families of these three people to see if we can compare DNA information for a final match."

With the current forensic technology requirements, even if attire, height, and age match, DNA comparison is necessary for final confirmation.

Since cases of mistaken identity of deceased individuals have occurred before.

To mislead the investigation, the perpetrator deliberately dressed other corpses in the original victim’s clothing to create confusion.

Once the victim’s identity is incorrectly confirmed, proper case investigation becomes virtually impossible.

Of these three suspected missing individuals, one had filed a report in Haizhou City, while the other two were from out-of-province.

"Let’s start by eliminating the local cases."

Lu Chuan considered the likelihood of a local disappearance to be higher.

The chances of someone missing from out-of-province being victimized locally are fairly low.

Besides, since DNA collection is necessary, beginning with local cases is definitely easier.

Chen Jiang together organized personnel to collect DNA information from the parents of local missing persons.

The results came out that evening.

Unfortunately, none of the Haizhou City’s suspected missing persons matched the DNA of the skeleton.

Consequently, Lu Chuan and the team were left with confirming information on the two others from outside the province.

The criminal investigation team contacted the relevant team in the city where the other individuals are located to communicate and confirm information since the DNA identification analysis result of the skeleton had already come out.

Therefore, Chen Jiang directly sent over the identification result of the skeleton.

The identification and matching work could be conducted by the counterpart’s criminal investigation team.

A turning point appeared on the third day after Chen Jiang sent out the skeleton’s DNA identification result.

Good news came from the criminal investigation team in the High-tech Zone of Huangliang City, East Border Province.

Once Chen Jiang received the faxed results, he immediately called Lu Chuan.

"Director Lu! The skeleton’s identity has been confirmed!"

"Good, I’ll come over right away."

Upon hearing the news while attending a meeting in the city bureau, Lu Chuan immediately took leave and rushed to the criminal investigation team.

Ever since Lu Chuan was promoted to the position of Advanced Deputy Director of the sub-bureau, his meeting time had increased dramatically, almost always being either in a meeting or on the way to one.

However, as long as there is a case or case-related work, Lu Chuan would always take leave.

All relevant staff members gathered in the No.1 conference room of the criminal investigation team.

"Zhao Xiaowan was 26 years old when she disappeared."

Chen Jiang began to report the details.

"The disappearances were reported by Zhao Xiaowan’s husband; nine years ago, Zhao Xiaowan was working in a mooncake factory in Haizhou City."

Lu Chuan was puzzled: "The person was working in a mooncake factory when she disappeared, so how was the case reported in East Border Province?"

Chen Jiang explained: "At the time of her disappearance, Zhao Xiaowan was still in East Dongjiang Province."

Chen Jiang had already faxed over the case file concerning Zhao Xiaowan’s disappearance.

"According to the case file, on the day of her disappearance, Zhao Xiaowan left home in the morning claiming she was going to buy groceries but hadn’t returned by evening, and her husband couldn’t reach her by phone. He reported it to the police the next day."

Chen Jiang continued: "Based on the information mentioned in the case file."

"Zhao Xiaowan had worked for more than half a year in Haizhou City’s mooncake factory, where she met a man named Gao Feng."

"The case file records that Zhao Xiaowan’s husband said Zhao Xiaowan and this man named Gao Feng had improper relations, and even during her disappearance, she had already informed him that she wanted to return to Haizhou City’s mooncake factory to continue working, although her husband did not agree at the time."

"When the incident happened, the police in East Border Province contacted our side and assisted in investigating certain situations."

"We also investigated some details at that time and found that the local police did not find Zhao Xiaowan at the mooncake factory, nor had she come over to work."

"As for this man named Gao Feng, he also declared that since Zhao Xiaowan left the factory, he never saw her again."

"So Zhao Xiaowan simply disappeared."

Lu Chuan carefully reviewed the entire case file. Regarding the case of Zhao Xiaowan’s disappearance, the investigation by East Dongjiang Province was quite meticulous.

All surveillance footage on the day of Zhao Xiaowan’s disappearance was reviewed, and no sign was found indicating she was abducted.

The police also checked all ticket sales records of flights, trains, and buses leaving Huangliang City, East Border Province that day; Zhao Xiaowan’s ticket purchase record was not found.