I shouldn’t even have to explain this, but the fandom still seems convinced that’s Nathan buried in the spot where Rachel “supposedly” is.
No. No, no, no. That is Rachel - and here’s why.
First of all, as I’ve mentioned before, the spot they find the body buried in is completely untouched, complete with grass and all. It is virtually impossible to bury a body and have the ground look like that hours later.
Second, it’s been mentioned before that Max seems to rip open a bag, thus revealing the smell. A freshly-killed body would not emit a smell so quickly for one thing, and the bag is where the blue color comes in (many people mistake this for Nathan’s shirt).
Also, for those of you saying Nathan was buried in it after Rachel was dug up:
The hole and blue object in this picture is similar to the earlier one, the big difference being the depth of the hole. If you rewatch the scene, you’ll see Max dig more before the camera pans away. It’s safe to say there was nothing else put in this hole (It’s also from a different angle; the first being from the top and the second from the side). Also, speaking of that hole, it is also symbolic that Chloe died on top of it. Take a look. This shot wouldn’t mean even half as much if Nathan was buried there, would it?
Third, and perhaps the one vital thing many people are overlooking, is the power and emotion behind this scene. Chloe has found someone very, very treasured to her that she had been looking for for months - only to find her in a body bag. She breaks down in tears, clinging to Max and wondering what kind of a cruel world would do this to her.
This scene is complete with a somber soundtrack and - most importantly - the deer. This deer is quite important when you consider its presence in the storm and the junkyard; it’s highly implied that this is the spirit or spirit animal of Rachel Amber guiding Max to the truth.
The deer is present in this scene, and hangs its head in sorrow, as if taking on some of Chloe’s grief.
This scene is entirely about Rachel Amber, and Chloe’s world falling apart around her. This scene does not contain any hint that that isn’t Rachel, and I think the only reason we didn’t see her straight-up is that the designers didn’t want to/didn’t have time to render a decomposing body. You have to look at the context of the situation; why on earth would they put the deer there and have so much focus being on Chloe’s reaction rather than the discovery itself, only to be like “lol jk it was actually nathan” later on? There is no reason; no developers would use symbolism so horribly wrong, especially since DONTNOD has proven itself with the writing quality so far.