Body 115

In 1987 a tragic fire swept through London s King s Cross underground station claiming 31 lives after a dropped match set fire to escalator machinery. The charred remains of the victims were painstakingly identified from a list of reported missing persons and their dental and medical records, but twelve months later, one body remained unidentified.

The last victim acquired the name it had been given at the morgue, Body 115, and that was where it appeared the investigation would end late in 1988, when all leads had run dry. But Inspector Ian Wilkinson could not let the case rest. Despite much unwarranted and very public criticism over his handling of the search and rescue mission, he vowed that he would not leave the British Transport Police until the nameless 5 foot 2 inch smoker had been identified.

The 17 years which followed were filled with more dashed hopes, false leads, forensic anomalies and dead ends than a murder mystery novel would the unclaimed sailor s suitcase in lost property hold the key? Or the Japanese surgeon s clip? Could new forensic technology provide the answer? The solution eventually came to rest with two families, both desperately hoping to solve the mystery of their father s disappearance and both anxiously needing to end their suffering by burying their relative, but always knowing that only one could be the victim s true family.

The truth was only uncovered at last by the diligent and exhaustive detective work of Inspector Wilkinson, who wouldn t let the case rest and astonishing forensic evidence that finally proved the true identity of Body 115.