Identification of Human Remains Using Photographic Reconstruction (From Forensic Osteology, P 256-289, 1986, Kathleen J Reichs, ed. - See NCJ-103038)

• NCJ Number: 103045
• Author(s): W P Webster; W K Murray; W Brinhous; P Hudson
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses photographic reconstruction methods for identifying human remains and illustrates them in four cases handled by the North Carolina medical examiners system.

Abstract

The two techniques and procedures involve a comparison of the victim's face and the cleaned skull, particularly the dentition. In the first method, a direct frontal photograph of In the first method, a direct frontal photograph of the victim's smiling face is clipped, copied, and compared to a photograph of the skull taken from the same angle. A side-by-side comparison then is undertaken. The second method depends upon the congruence of significant lines and curves of the face and the victim's dental structure. A photograph of the skull and the face are superimposed and aligned on the same sheet of photographic paper. These methods, used in conjunction with other techniques such as dental radiography and disease abnormalities, provide a basis for verifying a tentative identification. Photographs and 12 references.