December 8, 2003

East Lansing - The Michigan State Police is hoping the public will put a face with a name, or at least a face with a skull. A new section on the MSP Forensic Artist Program web site features facial reconstructions from unidentified "Jane" or "John Does" in an effort to determine the identity of these unknown individuals.

"Our ultimate goal is to find the identity of these victims and help bring closure to a family, " stated Inspector Karen Halliday, Commander of the Field Detective Division. "Posting these drawings and reconstructions on the Internet brings them to people across the state and country and hopefully increases the likelihood that someone will recognize the victim."

The web site includes both 2-dimensional post mortem drawings and 3-dimensional facial reconstructions from unidentified human skulls. The process takes approximately two weeks to complete, depending on the condition of the remains. So far this year, State Police forensic artists have completed four, 2-dimensional drawings and two, 3-dimensional facial reconstructions.

The Unidentified Human Remains web site can be viewed through the Forensic Artist Program web site located at: www.michigan.gov/forensic_artists. The site, which became active in August, also features composite sketches of individuals wanted for a crime. Both sites are updated regularly.

The Forensic Artist Program is unique in that it is one of the nation’s only state-level teams with a network of artists available on a 24-hour basis to assist state, county or local police agencies at no cost to them. Team members are stationed throughout the state at the Metro South, Bad Axe, Lansing, Bridgman and Richmond posts, as well as at the Grayling and Lansing laboratories.