FORENSIC pathologists could take several more weeks in their attempts to establish the cause of death of pensioner Marie Veronica Reynolds.

Mrs Reynolds, who was known as Veronica, was discovered in a waterway on private farmland in Malpas, Newport, on January 27. She disappeared from her Hollybush Avenue home, half a mile from where her body was discovered, on August 13, 2002.

Scientists at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff identified the body as that of 70-year-old Mrs Reynolds and continue to work to find a cause of death.

Consultant pathologist Dr Paul Griffiths, who is not connected with the case, told the Argus about general procedures involved in such inquiries. And he said inquiries could take several weeks because of toxicology testing.

"An initial autopsy on the body would establish if there was a violent death where there may be a fractured skull or marks on bone from a knife. "When the cause of death is natural, such as a heart attack or stroke, it depends on the state of preservation of soft tissue to establish the cause."

He said toxicology tests, which detect any poisons in the body, could also be carried out. Results of toxicology tests are usually available within a month, he said.

Dr Griffiths, who works at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, said: "Even if a body has been left for some time, toxins may be retained in bile and urine. "If a dead body is in a stream for a long time, water will get into the lungs and it would not be possible to establish if the cause of death was drowning."

He said if forensic pathologists could not establish how a person died, a coroner would record the cause of death as unascertainable.

Dr Griffiths said the coroner would look at evidence before giving a verdict. He said if an unlawful killing verdict was recorded and a prosecution was brought, then defence solicitors would be able to nominate a pathologist to carry out a second autopsy.