The dry corpse discovered in Lop Nor is likely to be Peng Jiamu (1925-1980), the scientist who was lost in Lop Nor in June 1980 during a scientific exploration, according to experts.

According to reports of local media, explorers have brought the corpse from Lop Nor to Dunhuang Museum in Gansu Province.

The body was first discovered by Dong Zhiguo, a scientist with the Lanzhou-based Institute of Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), during an exploration last winter.

Its location was close to the point where Peng disappeared 26 years ago.

Dong was quoted by Lanzhou Morning Post as saying that the estimated pre-death height of the corpse is 1.7 metres, close to that of Peng.

The size of the foot of the body is the same as Peng's foot size.

According to Dunhuang Museum's preliminary test, the death age of the corpse is estimated to be between 52 and 55. When Peng lost, he was 55.

The test also shows the corpse might have died 30 years ago, close to the 26 years Peng has passed.

The sample of the dry body has been taken and brought back to Beijing for DNA testing.

The scientists will test the DNA of the body and then compare the results with those of Peng's family members to finally decide whether this is Peng.

Despite the growing amount of evidence, Lanzhou Morning Post reported that a guard of Peng viewed the corpse on Saturday and found the face feature of the corpse was not similar to that of Peng.

(China Daily April 19, 2006)