Police say they have positively identified the badly decomposed body of a woman pulled from the Gowanus Bay off Red Hook.

Police have not released the name of the woman, but they say she is from New Jersey.

The announcement came from Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Boyce says a woman who claimed to be the victim's mother walked into the 76th Precinct because she recognized a tattoo on her body.

The dismembered body was discovered around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Police say they are investigating the case as a homicide.