Police sketches in the news

Rapist sought
Queens Courier - Bayside,NY,USA
... 5 foot 7 inches tall, with a medium build and dark, salt-and-pepper hair, as depicted in the police sketch. He was wearing black sandals. ...


Burpee jury to begin deliberations
Palo Alto Online - Palo Alto,CA,USA
In addition, blood and DNA evidence in Burpee's car and home were clearly Doe's; a police sketch based on her description looks like Burpee; Doe's testimony ...

Rape survivor reflects on night that changed her life
WIS - Columbia,SC,USA
Villafuerte was arrested days later when his employer recognized his face from a police sketch of the suspect. As for Rawls, she's been fighting off the bad ...

Police sketches in the news

Idealist's slaying in '71 still haunts today
San Francisco Chronicle - San Francisco,CA,USA
Witnesses to the Ingleside attack - the wounded civilian and an officer who had been in the back of the station - described the woman for a police sketch ...

You call THAT a "likeness"?!?

A 30 year veteran of police sketches explains why the resulting drawings aren't beautiful or even perfect representations of suspects.

"The main thing to grasp is that it's not supposed to be a portrait, or a piece of art,' explains Jan.

'It's much easier recognising someone again than describing them bit by bit. What we're looking for here is what's called a 'type likeness' - it's just a visual likeness, not a copy - a bit like putting a jigsaw together as they hand me the pieces.'

And that's part of the trouble. 'I'm just the witness's pen and pencils - his toolbox.

I can't go beyond what someone tells me, even if I think it looks horrible or daft,' says Jan. 'You see pictures on Crimewatch looking terrible, but if the witness says "Stop. That's him!", then that is him.'"

-Call that a Likeness? It's criminal! UK Daily Mail Online

Police sketch identifies Baby Angel

The police sketch I wrote about yesterday worked - this is the one in which the artist used morgue photos of the child.

"Family members had contacted authorities, saying her son matched the description of a boy found Friday at an Albuquerque playground." AJC

The mom, Tiffany Toribio, had suffocated her young son, then had second thoughts about what she had done. She then performed CPR on her son to bring him back, then decided to go through with killing him. She buried his body in a shallow grave under playground equipment. The child's body had been damaged so much by being in the sand that the photos weren't usable to show to the public. The drawing brought in the leads. The mother is under suicide watch - she has already tried to kill herself.

Forensic artist drew from morgue photos of baby

This artist worked from morgue photos of the deceased baby. I realized I've already done this type of thing, but not of crime victims. I create pencil portraits of stillborn babies. I've drawn babies as young as 16 weeks' gestation. The parents/grandparents want portraits as remembrances that can be shown, because the photographs are often not appropriate for public viewing. They just want a portrait of how their baby would have looked in life. I often have clients who are nervous about showing me the photos of their stillborn babies. The babies are often very bruised and wrinkled - very many times almost look dessicated because the photos were taken some time after death. I suppose some people can't do this, but I look at it as a service...that's what I keep my mind on. Although the babies I've drawn so far have not been victims of crime, the parents are of course still somewhat distraught. Because I work from the photographs they have - and it's not an emergency - I urge them to allow themselves at least 6 months to a year before deciding what kind of memorial to their baby they would like to have.

Forensic Artist Describes Sketch Process - Albuquerque News Story ...
Albuquerque Police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released a new poster Wednesday including the composite photo of Baby Angel and new pictures of the clothes the boy was wearing. Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

Interesting police sketch article

I wonder if I could get a copy of the FBI's Facial Identification Catalog..hmm. Karen Taylor discusses it here and it does sound likely that I could request and receive a copy. I will give it a shot.

In an era when law enforcement relies on digital photos and videos and advanced forensic science, composite sketches are old-fashioned but effective, and they aren't likely to be completely replaced, Finley said.

"Composite artists will always be around because video is not always there," Finley said. "It's amazing we've got computers and videos, yet a person with a pencil and paper can bring down a criminal."

..."witness and Finley sit down with the FBI Facial Identification Catalog and discuss a suspect's head, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, facial hair, skin, hair and glasses."

"...About four years ago, the sheriff's office needed an employee to do the composites. Although his confidence was not high, Finley applied for the FBI's Forensic Facial Imaging course by submitting a drawing and was selected to the three-week program. Classes in Quantico, Va., taught drawing exercises and methods of pulling information from the memory of a witness or victim."

Police sketch artist can still hook and reel in criminals

Police sketches in the news

Richmond police release sketch of homicide suspect
San Jose Mercury News - San Jose,CA,USA
By Karl Fischer Police sketch of a man wanted in an April 22 Richmond shooting death. (Richmond Police Department) Detectives released a sketch of the ...

This 2nd one is very interesting, the best friend of the missing girl's mother bears an unbelievable resemblance to the woman seen in a surveillance video walking along with the missing girl before her disappearance - this is from Canada:

'It's not me'
Canoe.ca - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
By RANDY RICHMOND, LONDON FREE PRESS WOODSTOCK -- She bears an uncanny resemblance to the abductor of Victoria (Tori) Stafford in a police sketch and a ...

Skull could be from missing woman

Skull may be from missing woman
Tulsa World - Tulsa,OK,USA
A picture of the facial reconstruction at left, created by OSBI forensic artist Harvey Pratt, was first published in the Tulsa World on Nov. 9. ...

George Zinkhan age progression sketches

Age progression sketch of George Zinkan - really great job, they spent a lot of time on this. Why are these so good - compared to the usual police sketches? They were completed based on existing photographs of the suspect. In the case of most police sketches, there are no images to help the artist with the sketch. Most police drawings are completely based on the witness/victim's recollections, which can be good or bad, depending.

Police Release New Drawings Of How Triple Murder Suspect May Now Look
WXIA-TV - Atlanta,GA,USA
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic artist sketched how the 57-year-old former marketing professor, accused of murdering his wife and two men near ...

Police sketch generates tips

There's been a lot of criticism of this Snellville police sketch, but the key takeaway here is that it "generates tips" - so any sketch that generates some conversation and tips is a good sketch, even if it does look like it was done on an Etch a Sketch! LOL!

Police Sketch Raises Questions, Generates Tips
WXIA-TV - Atlanta,GA,USA
SNELLVILLE -- You may have seen the sketch of a suspect in the shooting death of a Conyers mother in a Target parking lot April 26th. ...

Forensic art news

Experts Recreate the Face of the First European
Softpedia - Bucharest,Romania
Up to this point, experts have failed to establish whether the remains belong to a male or a female, but forensic artist Richard Neave has managed to come ...

Reconstructions may provide cold case tips
WBBH - Fort Myers,FL,USA
Deputies say a forensic artist reconstructed the skull of the man who was found July 31, 2003, in a wooded area at the southwest corner of Immokalee Road ...

Sheriff's Office volunteer hopes her sculpture, drawing helps find ...
Naples Daily News - Naples,FL,USA
By RYAN MILLS (Contact) Forensic artist Tricia Blair reconstructed the face of ... The 55-year-old grandmother and forensic artist, who dabbles in stand-up ...

Face of first european revealed by forensic artist

This is very cool. You definitely should read this article!
Forensic artist worked with remains - they don't know if person was male or female.

A lot had to be based on suppositions, like skin color, etc.

Revealed: the face of the first European
Independent - London,England,UK
Richard Neave, the forensic artist who reconstructed the facial features in this clay model, based his assessment on a careful measurement of the bone ...

"The reconstruction was made for the forthcoming BBC 2 series The Incredible Human Journey which documents human origins and evolution, from our birthplace in Africa to the long migratory routes that led us to populate the most distant parts of the globe."

Suzanne Baldon forensic art instructor

Suzanne Baldon's website