The forensic autopsy of a body in an advanced state of decomposition presents enormous technical challenges. However, it is a technical mistake to assume that the progression of the putrefaction process will necessarily impair the necropsy examination. Despite the morphological alterations caused by putrefaction and the action of scavenger animals, the detailed examination of the body and the related evidence by a multidisciplinary team may provide elements for victim identification and for clarifying the circumstances and mechanism of death. In this case report, the main technical procedures involving the necroscopic investigation of a decomposed body were described and discussed, including victim identification through necropapilloscopic examination, the limitations in establishing the medical cause of death, and the application of forensic entomology in estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) and in the investigation of chemical substances. The corpse presented a large quantity of dipteran larvae, later identified as belonging to the species Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819), which were used to estimate the minimum PMI. This report highlights the importance of multidisciplinary work in necropsy examinations of bodies in advanced stages of decomposition, with the expectation that the dissemination of the procedures performed may contribute to practical applications in similar real cases and encourage the development of studies related to this topic.
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