The sister and friend of a Latvian national, Liga Skromane, who went missing in March, on Saturday, 21 April, identified a decomposed body recovered from near Kovalam to be of the victim, Kerala Police said.
After a detailed forensic examination, the police on 26 April confirmed that the body found near Kovalam was of Skromane. The police further said that the family is waiting for an autopsy result.
The head of the body was found lying away from the rest of it, in a marshy spot. Late on Friday, 20 April, fishermen found the body in highly decomposed state and alerted the police.
On Saturday, Skromane's sister and friend arrived and identified the body from her dress and the hair.
The police will conduct an autopsy, which will be followed by a DNA test that is likely to be done at the city-based Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology.
Skromane had come to Kerala along with her sister, Ilzie, for Ayurvedic treatment at a hospital on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, following complaints of depression.
She, however, went missing on 14 March and was last reported to have taken an autorickshaw ride to the famed tourist destination at Kovalam. She was without a passport or mobile phone at the time.
Her husband, Andrew, and her sister had printed her posters and distributed them around to help them lead to any clue. The Kerala Police had also launched a detailed probe to locate her, but failed.
Empty bottles, cigarettes and a lighter have been recovered from the place where the body was found.
(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit send)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)