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A body has been discovered from a lake. How would you? Identify the body. It is important to try and establish the identity of the victim as quickly as possible. Physical identification is the most common method used to identify a body but this is not always possible as the body may be too decomposed or disfigured. If the body has not been in the water for long articles of clothing, jewellery, scars or tattoos may help to identify the victim. Bodies submerged in water tend to decompose more slowly unless the water is very polluted. However a body that has been in water for some time may be disfigured from the bloating effect of being in water. It is important to photograph the body quickly; particularly the face as feature may deteriorate quickly once the body starts to react to the warm air. First you would try records of missing persons may give clues to possible victims and clothing or personal effects on the body may assist but this will not provide a definite identification so other forms of forensic identification should be used. You may be lucky and find a wallet with there name and address in although this may be incorrect it is a good starting point. Radiology should be taken which will detect fract