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Postmortem Drawing or Facial Reconstruction from a Skull

Forensic artists may be called upon to assist with a postmortem drawing or facial reconstruction from a skull. This is done when human remains are recovered but investigators have been unable to identify the body. The forensic artist's image can assist investigators in searching missing persons databases. The identification can them be positively made by DNA or dental comparisons.

Based on the condition of the remains, the forensic artist must first decide whether to do a postmortem drawing from the morgue photos, or a two or three-dimensional reconstruction of the face from the skull. The postmortem drawing would be done if there was enough of the soft tissue still left on the skull. In most cases where the body is badly decomposed, a facial reconstruction from the actual skull would have to be done.

Illustrations below by Karen T. Taylor.

Skull with tissue depth markers
Drawing over image of skull with tissue depth markers
Final drawing of the face from the skull