Chapter 831: The Body by the River
The hotpot was naturally out of the question. After receiving Chen Jiang’s call, Lu Chuan hurriedly parted ways with Shen Yan and drove directly to the Fen River.
By the time Lu Chuan arrived, there were already a dozen people from the Criminal Investigation Team at the scene.
"Captain Lu, the body was discovered by a passerby who called in twenty minutes ago."
"We’re preparing to recover it."
As soon as Lu Chuan got out of the car, Chen Jiang came over to report the general situation.
"Let’s go, have a look."
In addition to the Criminal Investigation Team, local police from the precinct were also on site, maintaining order and setting up the police cordon.
As it was evening, there were quite a few people out for walks in the area.
"Expand the cordon and push people back, no photos or videos allowed."
By the riverbank, Lu Chuan had already put on rubber gloves. Three officers were on the shore, using hooks to pull the body towards the bank.
This section of the Fen Riverbank had a pedestrian walkway built by the government, with streetlights, allowing for a rough view of part of the river surface.
"Did you report it?"
A middle-aged man nearby, now pale, was seated on the ground.
The man nodded slightly, stiffly, when questioned.
"I discovered it while walking. At first, I thought someone had fallen in the water, but I can’t swim, so I called out. There was no one around."
"I poked it with a nearby stick..."
"The person didn’t move. I sensed something was wrong and reported it."
The process of reporting was relatively simple.
Chen Jiang had already arranged for someone to take statements.
Soon, the body was pulled ashore.
Facing up on the ground, the front of the body was exposed to everyone.
A young-looking female, dressed in a blue-and-white tracksuit, had been submerged for so long that her original appearance was indistinguishable.
The body’s arms and legs showed obvious signs of injury.
"Has the Forensic Doctor been notified?"
"On the way."
Since the incident occurred after office hours, the forensic doctor had to return to the Criminal Investigation Team to fetch equipment, so would arrive a bit later.
"Chen Jiang, send two teams, start from where the body was found, and search upstream and downstream to see if there’s any discovery."
Lu Chuan began a preliminary examination of the body.
Based on the degree of skin immersion, the body had likely been in the water for about two to three days.
After prolonged immersion, skin goes through color and texture changes over time.
Generally, the time a body has been submerged is judged by the state of the skin after absorbing water.
The deceased’s skin wounds were slightly festering, which generally occurs at least 48 hours after death.
And the degree of festering in water occurs even slower, thus extending the time.
However, it should not exceed three days, or 72 hours.
When a body is submerged for more than 72 hours in water, the skin changes from a pronounced pale color to greenish-blue.
Currently, it seems the deceased’s skin is transitioning from pale to greenish-blue, with only signs of this change, not fully transitioned, so Lu Chuan estimated the immersion time to be two to three days.
The tracksuit zipper was opened, revealing something strange.
No underwear was found inside, and the body showed evident signs of injury.
Cigarette burns, cuts from sharp objects, and bruises from blunt force.
Different assaults create completely different injury patterns across the body’s meridians.
Especially after death, these patterns become permanently set once the blood stops flowing.
Further examination revealed the deceased was not wearing underwear below either.
Identification documents were not found on the body.
The cause of death presently appeared to be asphyxiation.
There were obvious strangulation marks on the neck.
Only one shoe remained on the feet.
Qin Chuan pried open the eyelids, checking for cloudiness in the lenses.
The cloudiness of the lens is an important reference point for determining time of death.
Normally, cloudiness sets in 48 hours after death.
Thus Lu Chuan could determine whether the deceased was dumped into the river after being dead for a while or immediately after death.
The mouth was opened, with no silt residue inside.
This indicated the victim was already deceased when dumped into the Fen River.
Soon, the forensic doctor arrived.
"I’ve conducted a preliminary examination; the deceased female is approximately between the ages of 25 and 30."
"Height 1.73 meters, cause of death preliminarily judged as asphyxiation, due to strangulation with a cord or similar. Specific details require further autopsy."
"Time of death approximately between 48 and 74 hours ago."
"No history of childbirth, but with signs of tearing in the lower body, preliminary pregnancy stretch marks, considered termination of pregnancy. Exact details will be carefully examined in the autopsy."
The Forensic Doctor from the Criminal Investigation Team is of general proficiency.
In comparison, somewhat less skilled than Wang Changjiang.
However, basic skills are intact. Unless it’s something complex, they can perform a normal forensic assessment and analysis without issue.
Moreover, Lu Chuan had already done so much preliminary work.
Their task was considerably lightened, with existing reference material.
After several people loaded the body into the vehicle, the forensic doctor returned for the autopsy.
By the Fen Riverbank, Lu Chuan and others continued to be busy.
Typically, when a body is found in a river, searches are conducted upstream.
Currently, the victim’s identity is uncertain, presenting the biggest issue.
Additionally, the dumping location.
Lu Chuan found no bindings on the body.
"But given that the Fen River’s flow isn’t rapid, the body remained undiscovered for so long, which shouldn’t be the case."
Chen Jiang suspected the body may have initially sunk to the riverbed, then due to some reason, like the removal of weighted bindings, floated up.
"That’s possible."
As Chen Jiang said, the Fen River’s flow isn’t rapid, and it’s rather narrow. The body’s long immersion of three days before discovery makes his analysis plausible.
Though there’s some confusion; Lu Chuan hadn’t observed any signs of prior binding during the preliminary examination.
"Let’s call it a day. Tomorrow morning, send someone to patrol both banks upstream."
"See if we can locate the dumping spot."
...
The following morning.
The forensic work was already concluded.
The general situation aligned with Lu Chuan’s analysis.
Death by asphyxiation, no signs of drowning.
Prior to death, the victim was subjected to abuse, with recent injuries evident from the fester level, presumed not more than three days old.