Female body recovered from a floodplain in the North of Italy

In mid-November 2010 a hunter walking on the Po river bank near Parma (Emilia-Romagna Region, in the north-east of Italy) informed the authorities of the presence of human remains in the mud, which were spotted from a distance. The floodplain area, of roughly 65 hectares, had drained naturally in the past 10 days, after flooding due to recent heavy rain. The depth and the soft consistency of the mud prevented the use of vehicles to reach the death scene. The police, the forensic team, and the recovery team eventually reached the scene by helicopter.

The human body remained untouched until the arrival of the pathologist at the scene, who described it as lying prone in the mud, completely undressed and covered by a large number of “dark” spiders, which were also swarming in the surrounding environment. The body was winched up to the helicopter, to be transported to the closest mortuary for post-mortem examination. While no trauma was evident on the body, the prosecutor’s office considered the case worthy of a full forensic investigation, to determine the identity of the deceased person, the cause, the manner and the time since death, and whether the floodplain was the primary death scene.

The human remains belonged to a Caucasian female, approximately 167 cm (5′5) tall, overweight, aging between 40 and 50 years old but looking consistently older due to overall poor health condition. The body was found completely naked, with no associated personal objects, such as rings, watch, jewelry, or dentures that could enhance a personal identification. The body was strewn with mud, leaf litter, small gravel, broken twigs, and colonized by immature insects and spiders which had not caused any visible damage. The mouth showed a completely edentulous inferior dental arch, with a few teeth in the superior dental arch. All teeth were in poor hygiene and health condition.

Besides the absence of traumatic findings (except for a few teeth), the external examination disclosed a light skin color, pierced ear lobes, and possibly light irises. Qualitative toxicological analysis was performed and gas-chromatography; results revealed the presence of psychoactive drugs (benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants) in the liver parenchyma and in the abdominal putrefactive fluid. The cause of death remained undetermined, but the set of findings suggested suicide by drowning.

A facial reconstruction was achieved and provided to the media. The cause and time of death, although ruled as undetermined for the lack of unquestionable evidence and by the challenging environment, were most likely a suicide by drowning, committed by a clinically ill, depressed, and socially marginalized mature woman around the time of the latest flood (10 days before the body discovery).

Despite the combined effort between all the experts involved and media coverage of the case, to this day, neither the set of information obtained by forensic analyses, research of palmar prints on the police databases, or the facial reconstruction have led to any personal identification.