Facial Reconstructions

Law enforcement agencies have relied on forensic art as one of their investigation methods for many years. The job of a forensic artist is quite difficult because he or she must reconstruct an image of an individual based on just hearsay and memory from another individual. The purpose of this study is to research forensic artists, also known as sketch artists, and their ability to draw up a suspect through the information provided by a witness. Interviews on two different forensic artists provide insight of the duties and hardships a law enforcement sketch artist takes on. The process of how law enforcement sketch artists are able to recreate the face of another individual, and how that picture can be a very useful piece of evidence for crime reports will also be addressed throughout the study. This study is relevant to anthropology because it touches on how how an individual perceives those around them and forensics itself is also one of the key topics discussed in biological anthropology.

Forensic facial reconstruction is a technique that combines scientific methods and artistic skills in order to recreate what a person might have looked like prior to death (Gupta, Gupta, Viuj, Vij, & Tyagi, 2015). However, there are critics that think using

This technique involves science and art as it guesses on how the soft tissues may have fitted on the skull based on skull characteristics, sex, and race. The facial sculpting uses molding clay to create a modal of what the victim may have looked like in life. However, if this fails we could use carbon-14 dating. Carbon- 14 dating deals with the radiocarbon found in the air we breathe due to the above ground nuclear testing increase; teeth grown in intervals and absorb these microscopic molecules. In adults they can help date time of birth within a 1.5 range which can allow for investigators to search for hospitals that apply to the year of birth with the other evidence such as race, sex, age, ect to help narrow the search. Additionally, another test we could use called bone analysis. It is a basic test because, simply put, it is the observation of the bones. Bone analysis permits the collecting of past injuries to the bone such as a broken femur or a fracture to the occipital region of the skull that could be used to slim down the search among missing persons. Thus, allowing investigators to exclude missing persons who do not have these past injuries to the bone and focus on whose who's families have reported that they

In other words, dental records are compared to teeth found to get a positive identification made. Dental records can find the age and many other biological features. In the text it states,”After that comes establishing a positive identification. The most common is dental records because almost all of us have been to a dentist and have had X-rays of our mouths.” This shows in cases where teeth are found the most common way forensic scientists use them is to establish an identity and biological profile.With this in mind, the text also states,”....because almost all of have been to a dentist and have X-rays of our mouths. But also DNA is important.” This shows that teeth help victim identification through data analysis. Lastly, anthropologist work with odontologist to help identify a

In the article “Giving Faces to the Lost” They explain the Russian method where you build muscles under the skin and the American method where you just put the skin on the skull. I decided to use the American method would be best for this situation. I rebuilt the skin. Then using computer scanning I made many different hairstyles and features so someone can recognize this

The facial reconstruction project was, by far, the most challenging yet enjoyable project. This is because there were many hard areas to accomplish, but the ending was worth it. Me and Faith found that the most challenging part was the ending and creating that smooth, human like skin. Personally, my most challenging part were the lips. I tried once, but let my partner take over, because that seemed to be her strong suit. We learned that the mouth would’ve been easier if we had done the nose before the mouth.

The objective of this paper is to analyze a criminal investigation tool for identification of an unrecognizable and unidentifiable body. The paper specifically examines forensic facial recognition and the four different categories of techniques that aid in identification. The four techniques include, two-dimensional facial reconstruction, photographic superimposition, three-dimensional clay facial reconstruction, and three-dimensional computer-based facial reconstruction. As these techniques are discussed, the paper further outlines the limitations of each technique and the controversy over forensic facial reconstruction. There are researchers that oppose this method of identification and find it unreliable and more of an art than

Forensic Odontology has been used for identification purposes through dental records and DNA of those who have been deceased. It has become a controversial issue for possible suspects due to cases of wrongful convictions in identifying dentitions, yet it can serve justice for victims and their families.

Literally forensic anthropologists use dental records, racial group, region, surgical appliances and the condition of their teeth to try and figure out who this person is. The “forensic anthropologists them a generic face to help family members, coworkers, friends, or acquaintances recognize the person that they know that may have been lost.”

There are varying opinions regarding the usefulness and validity of facial reconstruction as a forensic method of identification. An overwhelming amount of research claims that facial reconstruction is not an effective forensic technique. To follow the chronological order of the paper, problems arising with facial reconstruction will be outlined. In the beginning of facial reconstruction techniques, cadavers examined for determining reference points for soft tissue depths on the face (Nelson, L.A. & Michael, S.D., 1998). It is now understood that decomposition of the human body begins as soon as the individual dies, in normal environmental and health circumstances (Goff, M. L., 2009). Therefore, it has been claimed that cadaver related references are inconsistent and unreliable due to post-mortem changes in facial structure, producing a non-representative image of the person and/or inconsistent measurements when compared to in vivo results (Wilkinson et al., 2006). This issue has largely been overcome by the use of in vivo measurement techniques (Nelson, L.A. & Michael, S.D., 1998). These in vivo techniques also incur their own issues.

Cranio facial reconstruction aims to estimate an individual’s face appearance from its skull using the information about MRI datasets. MRI data set contains morphological characteristics of human head models such as age, gender, race and BMI. With the development of three dimensional digitalization technologies, the research on both computer aided and manual sided cranio facial reconstruction has widely received attention. The evaluation of the cranio facial reconstruction has an important significance in improving the cranio facial reconstruction methods.

Facial reconstruction is a method of identifying human remains through an artist modeling clay into an approximate reconstruction of the deceased person’s face. The facial features are based on the average soft tissue thickness over various places on the skull and jaw. These vary a lot by

Often people misunderstand and overestimate the reality of forensic sciences believing them to be infallible and immediate. By correctly communicating the timing and methods used to identify human remains and the actual role these findings play in investigations Reichs is helping to peel back the overestimation by the common public to reveal a more accurate and realistic understanding of the profession.

Leonardo created lifelike images of people by uniquely drawing his figures from the bones up. To perfect this, he studied anatomy by dissecting corpses

Focusing on some of the specific sciences involved with Criminalistics, Odontology is a topic that warrants mentioning. Forensic Odontology is the handling examination and evaluation of dental evidence, which is presented in interest of justice (Haqh, Poonam, M, & Doddamani, 2016). Despite all of the advancements made in modern technology, medical breakthroughs, crime still persists in virtually every aspects of our lives. These heinous activities that shatter the lives of victims, their friends and families and occur every day. Little can be done to repair such damage once inflicted. So the detention and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrator(s) who commit these acts is essential to maintaining society. Through the field of forensic odontology,