SEVERAL questions were raised when the lower half of a body was
found floating in Bedok Reservoir on Monday.
Could it have been severed in a gruesome murder? How long has it
been in the water?
The body is believed to be that of 23-year-old Chinese national
Lin Xiao, who went missing two months ago.
He was last seen by his mother, Madam Hu Ping Zhu, 43, a kitchen
assistant, when they were leaving home for work together on April
28 at 8am.
He lived with his mother in Chai Chee, which is near the
reservoir.
Forensic experts The Straits Times spoke to yesterday say there
could be another explanation as to why only the lower half of the
body was found.
They said it could have decomposed more slowly than the upper
half because of the jeans found on the corpse when it was recovered
from the reservoir.
'We would have to examine the remains to determine if the body
had been purposely cut in half before it was dumped into the
water,' said an Australia-based private pathologist who did not
want to be named.
'However, two months of decomposition could have resulted in the
upper body simply disintegrating.' He added that the bottom half
may appear intact only because the jeans held it together.
As to why the body was not discovered for such a long time,
experts said that it could have been weighed or held down, although
dead bodies typically sink to the bottom first.
Dr Ong Chin Choon, who teaches forensic courses at Singapore
Polytechnic, said: 'Shortly after, it would go through a process of
anaerobic decomposition wherein carbon dioxide and methane gases
released would cause it to float up.'
According to the experts, Singapore's hot weather would normally
result in the body rising to the surface within two to four days.
'Assuming the body had indeed been in the water for two months, it
would probably have been tangled in weeds or weighed down or it
would have floated up long ago,' said Dr Ong.
He added that a typical mitochondrial DNA test to discover the
victim's identity should take only one to two days to conduct if
DNA is available from the mother. However, it is understood that
the severe level of decomposition could extend the waiting time for
DNA results.
On Tuesday, Madam Hu identified a belt on the body as belonging
to her son. Keys found on the remains also fit the locks to her
flat. She has contacted a funeral parlour and is arranging for the
body to be cremated.
Police have not confirmed the identity of the victim, and
investigations are ongoing as they continue their search for the
missing half of the body.
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More of WKS type logic in the police force. 
How is it possible that the body got severed at the waist?
Surely some force must be applied, they don't just dislodge
after decomposition if there is no force.
They speculate that the body could have been weighed down. How
does a body with no foul play end up being weighed down (ie if the
weighing down and buoyancy of the lower half caused the body to be
severed).
Not finding the other half is bad, it could be in some water
tank in some HDB block.
