The special thing with this case was that I, as a Forensic Odontologists, together with the Forensic Medical examiner got an opportunity to follow the case from the beginning, to see and investigate the body also in the scene of the crime in the recovery place. Usually we only perform our examination in connection to the autopsy.

The story starts in a suburb to Stockholm some years ago a day in February, when there still was ground frost. A couple of tele communication workers make a macabre finding when they are carrying out maintenance of the telephone system in a wooded hillside. A human skeleton is found, quite intact (figure 1) but some of the teeth had fall out of the jaws and had to be reinstalled later (figure 2, 3)

 

According to existing police reports a young female, prostituted and also drug addicted disappeared in these surroundings the summer before. We can call her Laila. A house situated nearby was a dope nest and Laila left the house one evening with a male, well known for the police. Some hour later he returned alone, saying that his female company had just disappeared outside the house. The police suspected that he could have killed Laila but the body was not found, even sleuthhounds were used. Now the police of course suspect that it is her body that has been found.

Before the skeleton is taken to the mortuary it is decided to make a very precise examination of the recovery place. Since some of the teeth and some bones from the body could be seen lying in the frost ground, a tent was raised round about the body and a radiator was placed in the tent. In this way the ground frost could be removed, and the skeleton together with underlying ground were taken to a post mortem examination in the mortuary.

The only antemortem dental records, which could be found, were from an emergency dental clinic, which Laila had visited one year before her disappearance. She had then had problem from the lower first left molar and this tooth had been extracted. Unfortunately the clinic could not find the radiograph, which had been taken before the extraction. When we made our postmortem examination of the lower jaw, we could see an empty socket in the place where this tooth had been. A healing had started in the area, indicating that it could be about one year since a tooth had been extracted from this place (figure 2).

There were many more indications on that we had found Laila. According to statements from relatives should Laila miss an incisor in the upper jaw (left central) and we could confirm it in the jaws (figure 3). She also should have a tattoo, in her right upper arm and we were so lucky that this was one of the few places where some soft tissue was left and the tattoo could be verified (figure 4). There were also other medical findings that supported the identity. The sutures in the skull and other bone characteristic indicated a middle-aged female. All this findings and some additional made us sure

about the identity
However, it was impossible to state a cause of death. Perhaps not so surprising when almost all soft tissue was decomposed. No fractures or other damages could be seen in the skull or other bones. Knowing this it was no idea to continue to look for a culprit.

Cooperation between involved disciplines important
The described case is, according to my opinion, a good example of a useful cooperation between those who can be involved in a suspected murder case. Our cooperation helped to establish an identity even if a crime could not be verified.

                                                                                            Leif Kullman