THE hunt for Sheila Fox's body may involve the use of an unusual specialist -- a forensic archaeologist.

And Greater Manchester Police may well call on the services of arguably the country's leading expert in this field, Professor John Hunter from Bradford University.

He has worked with GMP on similar cases in the past, and is currently working on several others around the country.

"If a body has been buried in the ground, even after a long time, it leaves a series of traces -- changes in vegetation, humps and bumps," he explained to the BEN.

If police are acting on information and have good reason to believe that a body is buried, they will bring in "all kinds of technological gizmos to show where the ground has been disturbed".

They may mark out the garden in grids first, to check it metre by metre. Then, they are likely to use a hand-held Resistivity Meter which sends a small current into the ground to reveal any changes, for example, disturbed soil or stones caused by digging a grave.

Or, if they want to check the ground beneath a concrete path or a patio, they could use radar, with a piece of equipment that looks like a lawnmower.

"Police would be keen not to disturb a grave, if they knew one was there," added Professor Hunter, "because they would want to protect any possible evidence."

After 57 years, a body would no longer have soft tissue but only skeletal remains. However, nylon zips or metal studs, jewellery, or material made from man-made fibres may well have survived.

Recent technical advances in foresic science mean that experts can tell more about identification from bones and teeth, including age, gender and how long a body has been in the ground.

Tears to material could match hard tissue injuries.

"There is a lot now that we can tell from DNA," he added, "even to the cause of death."