The partly submerged woman in the sandpit

The dead body of a woman was found in an old sandpit in the city of Helsinki, Finland on 27 June 1964. The sandpit was filled with water and the body was partly submerged and covered by bits of board. Presumably, it had earlier been completely under water. It was largely decayed, but still retaining its original shape. The soft parts of the face had decayed away. Adipocere formation had occurred. At autopsy on 29 June 1964, some fly larvae and puparia were detected in one hand. The larvae were dead and dry by the time they reached the Zoological Museum for examination. In spite of this it was possible to see that three of the larvae belonged to the genus Muscina and one to the genus Fannia. No flies or fly parasites had emerged from the puparia. No blowfly larvae or water insects were found.