The bodies were identified by Prof John Glaister Jr. using the fledgeling techniques of fingerprint identification, forensic anthropology to superimpose a photograph over the X-ray of a victim's skull, and forensic entomology to identify the age of maggots and thus the approximate date of death.
A preliminary examination was made at Moffat by Professor Glaister and Dr Millar, after which the remains were taken to the anatomy department at Edinburgh University for a more detailed investigation.