The Art and Science of Forensic Facial Reconstruction | Joe Mullins

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with forensic artist, Joe Mullins. Joe discusses how he uses his artistic talents to help law enforcement solve cold cases. He shares stories of bringing names and answers to families, challenges interpreting ancestry from skulls, memorable lessons from John Walsh, and the rewards of teaching forensic art.

Guest Bio and Links:

Joe Mullins is a forensic artist with 25 years of experience, particularly, in facial reconstruction for cold cases. Mullins has studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design and attended the FBI Academy. He works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Listeners can learn more about his work at www.missingkids.org. 

Resources: 

The Art of Forensics at the New York Academy of Art

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 

Show Notes:

[0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.  

[2:00] Sheryl introduces guest, Joe Mullins to the listeners

[4:10] Question: Where and how do you have these skulls? 

[9:15] The Art of Forensics at the New York Academy of Art

[12:10] The process of facial reconstruction

[15:10] Question: When do you start to see the face, meaning, when do you see the person looking back at you? 

[17:30] Question: Why are lips so challenging for a sculptor? 

[26:00] Question: Can you talk about some cases solved because of your efforts?

[35:30] "People say closure. I don’t, I don’t like that word. I’m never, never going to forget my son. A better way to explain the service that the National Center is providing with these images is you’re providing answers to families because not knowing is a nightmare you can’t wake up from." - John Walsh to Joe Mullins

[45:30] Training and mentoring the next generation

[46:45] Take a moment to look at the current list of missing children at www.missingkids.org 

[48:50] “At first, it was a bit eerie for the students as they unpacked the skull replicas.  But about four days into the class, something changed. Students were no longer looking at a skull, a relatively abstract concept of a human, but a person.” -J.V

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

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