Nicola Bulley's body identified by dental records

Opening an inquest into the death of Ms Bulley, 45, senior coroner Dr James Adeley said he had contacted consultant maxillofacial surgeon Andrew Ian Edwards to ask him to compare dental records obtained by police from the Great Eccleston dental surgery.

He said: “He examined the body that was located in the River Wyre near Rawcliffe Road in St Michael’s on Wyre at 2.15pm on February 20.”

Dr Adeley said the surgeon found restorative work carried out was identical.

He said: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities, and more, that positive identification has been made.

The start of the inquest revealed that dental records were used to identify dental record (Image: Family handout/PA)

“The family have been informed of the date, time and place of the opening of the inquest and have chosen not to attend for reasons I can quite understand.”

He said remaining evidence gathered by police and the post-mortem examination required “further evaluation” and a full inquest was likely to be held in June, once availability of a Home Office pathologist had been checked.

He said: “This will allow time to collate the facts of the case and allow the experts involved to finalise the findings from investigations that still need to be undertaken.”

Dr Adeley also ruled that her body could be released for a family funeral.

The coroner's investigation will take time to complete to ensure that as complete a picture as possible of the facts concerning Ms Bulley's death is presented at the inquest. This will assist the family in understanding what occurred.

As part of this process, Dr Adeley has requested Lancashire Constabulary produce information gathered during the search for Ms Bulley so it can be considered as part of the investigation.

Whilst the coroner considers this information, Lancashire Constabulary have been asked not to discuss the case in either social media or the mainstream media.

The inquest has been listed to be heard at 10am on June 26 at County Hall, Fishergate, Preston.

The inquest opening was attended by six members of the press and lasted about five minutes.

Ms Bulley’s body was pulled from the River Wyre in Lancashire on Sunday, more than three weeks after she last seen on January 27.

She had been walking her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school.

In a press conference on Monday, Lancashire Police described the investigation into her disappearance as “hugely complex and highly emotional”.

However, it did not address the widespread criticism it had received for releasing some aspects of Ms Bulley’s private life into the public domain.

Police also did not disclose why it took 23 days to find her body in the river.

Ms Bulley’s family said in a statement on Monday that they can let her “rest now” following the discovery of her remains.