Beth Buchholtz

This website was created to provide information about the process and purpose of forensic facial reconstructions/approximations in addition to marketing my professional services.  I also plan to highlight the on-going scientific research that supports the field of craniofacial identification.

Background

My professional training and experience has been primarily in death investigation and forensic anthropology. Unidentified deceased person cases are some of the most challenging cases a death investigator can encounter. Over the course of my career, I’ve become an advocate for the unidentified. Missing Person cases and Unidentified Person cases are two sides of the same coin because every unidentified person is someone’s missing person. 

Years of Experience

I officially entered the field of forensic art in 2016, but first learned about the field as an anthropology graduate student when Betty Pat Gatliff and Karen Taylor provided a short presentation on facial reconstruction at Arizona State University. I later had the privilege of taking one of Dr. Michael Charney’s last courses in Forensic Facial Reconstruction at Colorado State University. 

In 2015, I attended a Forensic Imaging workshop led by NCMEC Forensic Artist Joe Mullins at the University of South Florida’s Institute of Applied Anthropology. During the workshop, facial reconstructions were sculpted in clay using 3D printed skulls and mandibles from actual cases. The workshop culminated in a program called the Art of Forensics in which the finished sculptures were revealed to the public and the press with the hope of generating new leads. I participated in the program again in 2016. Following these workshops, I registered for as many facial reconstruction classes as I could, including classes with world-renowned forensic artist Karen Taylor. I have learned the American method (also referred to as the tissue-depth method) and the combination method, which combines the anatomical and tissue-depth methods. More discussion about these methods appears elsewhere on this site.

Unfortunately, there are currently no formal university programs in the US in which one can major (or minor) in Facial Reconstruction/Approximation.

I continue to seek training in the fields of forensic art and anthropology to expand my professional ability to assist with unidentified person cases.  


Education

  • MA in Biological Anthropology
  • BA Sociology/Anthropology

Experience

  • 13 years in law enforcement as a civilian (non-sworn) investigator (title CSO-Detectives)
  • 10 years as a Consultant with NCMEC Team Adam (formerly called the Project Alert Biometric Team) assisting law enforcement/coroners/MEs with unidentified deceased child cases and long term missing child cases
  • 6 years as a Medicolegal Death Investigator for a county Coroner
  • 21 years Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team  (DMORT Region VIII) Forensic Anthropologist-deployed to Hurricane Katrina & the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
  • 2 years as a Biological Anthropologist in a museum setting and a consultant for the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation

Additional Training Received

Forensic Art 

  • Drawing to Depict the Deceased; Instructor Karen Taylor
  • Forensic Facial Reconstruction Sculpture; Instructor Karen Taylor
  • Advanced Forensic Imaging Workshop 2015, 2016; Instructor Joe Mullins (NCMEC)
  • Forensic Imaging Workshop (Photoshop) 2016; Instructor Joe Mullins (NCMEC)
  • The Confluence of Art and Science (3D Reconstruction); Instructor Daniel Marion, PhD
  • Composite Drawing and Interview 2023; Instructor Duncan Way (Ontario Provincial Police)

Law Enforcement/Death Investigation 

  • Human Remains Recovery Workshop: Forensic Investigation Research Station, Colorado Mesa Univ.
  • Enhancing Investigations Through Genetic Genealogy: NCJTC
  • Response to At-Risk Missing and High-Risk Endangered Missing Children: NCJTC
  • Developing a Missing Persons Protocol: RTI
  • Cold Case Safety Net: Missing and Unidentified Persons: RTI
  • Child Fatality Investigations; Fox Valley Technical College
  • Infant Death Scene Investigation, CDPHE
  • Aquatic Death and Homicidal Drowning Investigations, LGS
  • CODIS for Missing Persons: Using DNA for the Identification of Remains: RTI
  • Cold Case Homicide Investigations, Colorado Regional Community Policing Institute, Colorado Bureau of Investigation
  • Infant and Child Fatality Investigations, Colorado DHS and Denver PD
  • Introduction to Criminalistics, Metro State University
  • Investigative Strategies: Missing and Unidentified Person Cases: RTI
  • Using Genetic Results to Identify Human Remains: RTI
  • Missing and Unidentified Persons Investigation Training Conference: GBI
  • Missing Persons: Resources, Techniques, and Identification: AAFS workshop
  • They’re Alive! Breathing New Life Into the Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Homicides: AAFS Workshop
  • Forensic Anthropology Laboratory Methods: Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute
  • Death Scene Archaeology: Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute
  • Analysis of Bone Trauma and Pseudo-trauma in Suspected Violent Deaths; Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute
  • Medicolegal Death Investigators Training Course, St. Louis University School of Medicine
  • Master’s Advanced Death Investigators Conference, St. Louis University School of Medicine

Professional Organizations

  • International Association for Craniofacial Identification (IACI), Delegate
  • International Association for Identification (IAI), Active Member, member Science and Practice Subcommittee
  • Rocky Mountain Division of the IAI, Member
  • American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Associate Member, Anthropology Section
  • Colorado Coroners Association, Associate Member

Professional Presentations

  • Re-Evaluating Unidentified Person Cases: presented at the Missing and Unidentified Person Workshop, April 2017, in conjunction with NamUs and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation
  • Missing In Colorado: Missing and Unidentified Cases: Colorado Coroner’s Association, June 2016
  • Founder of the annual Missing In Colorado event (a law enforcement sponsored event for families of Missing Persons)

Services for Unidentified Deceased Person Cases

  • 3D facial reconstruction/approximation with photography and digital enhancement
  • 2D facial reconstructions (digital drawings from photos of remains)
  • Digital postmortem photo enhancement
  • Digital enhancement of clothing and personal effect photos
  • 3D scanning and printing of fragile skeletal elements
  • Reassembly of fragmented craniofacial remains 
  • Images suitable for press release, NamUs, websites

Need assistance with a case? Please email Beth Buchholtz:

bbuchholtz@forensicsculptor.com