A body was pulled from the River Wyre last week near where the missing mother was last seen, and the community's fears were later confirmed as she was identified.
Preston Coroner's Court heard today surgeon Andrew Ian Edwards had examined her dental records, which had been obtained by police from a previous surgery.
Senior coroner Dr James Adeley 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 added: 'I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities, and more, that positive identification has been made.'
Dr Adeley said: '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 require 'further evaluation', and a full inquest is likely to be held in June, once availability of a Home Office pathologist had been checked.
'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,' the coroner said.
No cause of death was provided at today's hearing....<<<Read More>>>...
