Facial reconstructions of skulls found in Ohio seek public’s help in identifying them

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Cutting-edge technology is helping Ohio investigators make breakthroughs in unsolved cases, with the public playing a large role in finding answers. 

Currently, in central Ohio, a database by the attorney general’s office shows there are seven unidentified remains that were found in Columbus, along with a baby Jane Doe in Plain City. In all of Ohio, the database shows there are 113 unidentified remains.

To help families receive closure, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation uses facial reconstruction technology when tools like DNA, fingerprints and dental records fail to yield results. Before using the technology, the bureau uses the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, to see if the remains could belong to a missing person in the area.

“We try to reach out to families and do everything we can to ID this person first,” said criminal intelligence analyst and forensic artist for the Ohio BCI Samantha Molnar. “Then if we can’t, the facial reconstruction is us reaching out to the public, hoping someone just hasn’t reported their loved one yet. Or maybe they reported them, but they haven’t submitted DNA and just hoping that they will call and we can work it that way.”

Molnar has been creating facial reconstructions since 2016. To start the process, Molnar takes photos of an unidentified skull with her iPhone, and those photos are put into a program that generates a model of the skull that can be 3D printed. 

“So then once that’s 3D printed, I use clay to sculpt on top of that 3D model and complete the facial reconstruction taking into account things like age, male or female, the race, are there any identifying marks on the skull, like did this person have a lot of tooth loss, did they have a broken nose, did they have an overbite,” Molnar said. 

A program unveiled in September 2023 allows investigators to take that technology to the next level and manipulate 3D scans of the sculptures to create lifelike images. Investigators are able to share images of the same person with different features that may be unknown, such as hairstyles, skin tones, eye colors or age progressions.

Recently, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office asked the public for help in a renewed effort to identify an Akron John Doe using facial reconstruction technology and a variety of digital images. In 2016, a passerby found a man’s skull on a sidewalk outside a burned house in Akron. Burn marks suggested the remains had been at the address since at least 2012. 

Along with the remains, authorities recovered clothing, a belt, shoes, keys and part of a dental appliance. The man is believed to have been white, 5 feet 9 and between 30 and 55 years old. His cause of death is unknown, according to the attorney general’s office. 

Molar said she thinks facial reconstruction technology will continue to progress and become more accurate in the future as DNA technology improves.

“With DNA technology getting better and better, we’re able to tell a lot more about a person from their DNA which helps me a lot with the reconstruction,” Molnar said. “So oftentimes when I’m getting these skulls or skeletal remains, everything is decomposed, so I don’t know eye color, sometimes hair’s not found, sometimes clothing [isn't] found, so there’s a lot of things that I don’t know.”

The use of facial reconstruction depends heavily on the availability of the remains. If an unidentified body has already been buried, that can be a roadblock to using the technology since many agencies don’t pay for exhumations, Molnar said. 

“[I] encourage people to call their local law enforcement agency if they have a loved one they haven’t heard from in a while,” Molnar said. “We have a lot of unidentified remains, we do a lot of work, we do a lot of DNA testing, and unfortunately there are still quite a few people that are unidentified.”

The Attorney General's Office’s database of unidentified remains, which can be used as a tool for those with missing loved ones, can be found here. Some of the photos may be disturbing.