NCJ Number
218785
Date Published
January 2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the use of facial sculpturing to positively identify three victims of unnatural deaths.
Abstract
The reconstruction of facial features using facial sculpturing techniques has been widely criticized by forensic scientists for its lack of scientific reproduction of the final product and for its low statistical success rates. However, the practice of facial sculpturing dates back to biblical times and blends scientific and artistic skills to render a likening of an individual based on skull remains. The numerous techniques of facial sculpturing all rely on the published data concerning soft tissue thickness in different racial groups. The author notes that facial sculpturing is not meant to produce an exact likeness of an individual but rather to provide a reconstruction that may enable someone to make a cautious identification. In all three cases presented, the results of the facial sculpturing produced a positive identification and the relatives of the victims were satisfied that their loved ones had been correctly identified. Each brief case description contains a synopsis of the circumstances surrounding the case and explains the way in which the examiner went about reconstructing the face from skull remains. Photographs of the facial reconstructions and of the actual victims are presented in two of the cases. Figures, references