WHEN the torso of a young boy was found in the Thames in September 2001, the police were unable to identify the victim of this horrific killing. The key to the crime was the child’s recent whereabouts. He was evidently of black African origin, but was he from the UK or abroad? Forensic scientists were brought in to unravel the mystery. “It was a question of geography rather than ethnic origin,” says Layla Renshaw, a forensic archaeologist at Kingston University in Surrey, who was a member of the investigative team.
In fact, the scientists were able to answer this question.…
