Unidentified Corpse

To the Editor.—  On Sept 26, 1976, a decomposed, headless, partially skeletonized body was found in a wooded area near the middle branch of the Chopawansic Creek at the Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va. Pathological, anthropological, and roentgenographic examinations of the body indicated the remains were those of a white woman with an estimated living stature of 153 to 160 cm and an old, healed, nondisplaced fracture of the left ulna. Although the preliminary pathological and anthropological examinations resulted in the estimated range of age between 25 and 50 years, microscopic examination of cross sections of the tibia and the femur provided a more precise estimate of the age as 52±5 years. Parturition pits of the pelvis suggested the woman had had one or two childbirths. Roentgenographic evidence of growth cessation lines on several long bones also indicated she had had one or more severe childhood illnesses. The hair of