NCJ Number
188624
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 52-58
Date Published
March 2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the process and result of forensic facial reconstruction, from the viewpoint of an expert forensic artist and crime scene technician, assisting law enforcement in homicide investigations.
Abstract
Anne Coy is a forensic artist for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in Sanford, Florida. Her career began in 1980 and has led her from drawing crime scene sketches for the court and sketching composites of suspects to creating three-dimensional facial reconstructions. Homicide investigators turn to specialists like Coy when they find a homicide victim’s skull or skeleton with no identity, no eyewitnesses, and have searched missing person reports exhausting all possible leads. For each reconstruction the process can take about 40 hours from start to finish. The process for Coy begins with obtaining a copy of the anthropologist’s report; identifying the sex, approximate age, race and possible cause of death; and taking black and white photographs of the skull from front and back. The clay reconstruction then begins. The orbital and nasal cavities are filled and the tissue-depth markers are attached. After the eyes are installed, Coy uses her hands to add and smooth the clay. The biggest challenge in reconstructing a face is missing bones. It can take additional time and outside expertise, such as an orthodondist and a forensic odontologist. Throughout the reconstruction process numerous notes and approximately 60 photographs are taken. When the reconstruction is completed, the skull is moved to a wooden display stand where more photographs are taken and videotapes 360 degrees around it. It is clearly noted that throughout this rigorous process not all reconstructions are successful in identifying victims.