Post mortem identification of a body by use of dental evidence

In early 1988 the Dean of the University Dental Hospital of Manchester was approached by the Greater Manchester Police Force with a request for a member of staff to provide additional forensic services for them. They already had two dental practitioners who provided a service on the criminal side, but they required someone to deal with the unidentified bodies that were not apparently crime related. Later in the same year a police officer telephoned with the request for an examination of a female body. It had been immersed in the Manchester Ship Canal for some considerable time and crime was not suspected.