Law enforcement is using 3-D facial approximation technology to help solve a Lawrence County cold case. Skeletal remains of an unidentified man who had been shot multiple times were found near St. Onge in 2000. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley Spoke at Deadwood City Hall about how the new technology is helping identify the victim.
3-D facial approximation technology is being used in South Dakota to create a three dimensional head shot of a homicide victim. The victim is thought to have been killed in the fall of 1999. The image shows what the man likely looked like before his death. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says the new technology provides more details than past facial reconstruction techniques.
“When you look at this particular case, the reason this facial approximation is so important is we don’t have any dental records. While the individual needed to go to the dentist, it appeared that he had not. We don’t have any broken bones that would give us any indication that he been to seek medical attention. And so we’re really relying upon this science in building back the skull and the measuring of the facial tissue to put back as close as we can what he would’ve looked like probably back in the fall of 1999,” says Jackley.
Jackley urges the public to inform law enforcement if they recognize the victim. He says he hopes the technology will help hold accountable the person responsible for the crime.