By Staff
BUCHANAN - On Wednesday, June 29, at approximately 9 a.m., case officer David Capron of the Buchanan City Police Department and Detective Michael Danneffell of the Berrien County Sheriff's Department attended the autopsy of the unidentified female body found floating in the St. Joseph River on Tuesday, June 28.
The body was found near the Buchanan Dam on the Buchanan Township side of the river.
The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Cole a forensic pathologist with Spectrum-Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids. Dr. Cole is a known expert in the field of forensic pathology.
At the time of the autopsy Officer Capron possessed Marquette Bowen's dental records and a known sample of her DNA to be compared with that of the unidentified body.
Late in the day Dr. Roger Erbaugh a forensic dentist made a positive identification that Bowen's dental records matched that of the body found in the St. Joseph River on Tuesday, by an Indiana and Michigan Power employee.
Although all tests have not been completed from the autopsy, it can be concluded that Bowen's body did not show any signs of blunt trauma or broken bones, according to the Buchanan Police Report.
Officer Capron and Pastor Keith Kerr from the Buchanan City Police Department notified Bowen's family of the confirmation of identification.
Funeral arrangements are being planned.
Bowen was reported missing on Dec. 15, 2004 and the Buchanan City Police Department continued to search for her since this time.
Bowen was seen the day she disappeared in front of her residence on Fulton Street in Buchanan between 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Then at 3 p.m. that day there was a reported sighting of someone matching her description walking north on Red Bud Trail near the city limits.
Buchanan police received a tip of another sighting on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004, but after talking to the women reported as being Bowen that was ruled out.
Bowen was under doctors care for anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder and paranoia and needed medication she did not have with her at the time of her disappearance.
Bowen is the mother of Letitia Bowen McGuff, a Buchanan basketball player who went on to play at the University of Notre Dame and helped coach the women's team.