Facial reconstructions of three bodies exhumed last year by forensic anthropologists in Florida will be featured—along with 17 other John and Jane Does—in a month-long museum exhibit called “The Art of Forensics.”
Now in its seventh year, “The Art of Forensics” exhibit at Sulphur Springs Museum & Heritage Center (Tamps, Florida) has helped solve nearly 25 homicide cases and brought more than 140 cases up to “current investigative standards.”
Altogether, 20 unidentified humans who have been nameless for decades will be in the public eye, some for the first time. Designed to identify Does and solve their homicides, the exhibit includes clay sculptures, digital composites, photographs and drawings of each of the victims.
“These individuals have remained unknown for decades. Their faces tell a story about who they were,” said renowned forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle. “When you look at the common patterns among victims, the marginalization of certain people and their vulnerabilities become clear. We hope it triggers the memories of those who knew them so that people come forward with new leads. The exhibit is about using art to engage the public, trigger memory and create empathy.”
In November 2020, Kimmerle, director of the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Science at the University of South Florida (USF-IFAAS), and her team of grad students exhumed three unidentified bodies from a cemetery in Tampa. The researchers have spent the past year developing the victims’ biological profiles, sampling for DNA analysis, conducting chemical isotope testing and creating the facial reconstructions that are being shared in the exhibit, which opened Sunday, Oct. 3. Additionally, police investigators with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office are reviewing evidence in storage linked to the cases to assess the potential for further testing.
Half of the cases featured in the current exhibit are from Hillsborough County, Florida, with the remainder representing central Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
"The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is proud of the ongoing partnerships with USF-IFAAS and the Florida Sheriff's Association," said sheriff Chad Chronister. "It is through the work we do together that hopefully we will bring closure to families that have been waiting far too long for answers."
Kimmerle is no stranger to collaboration and partnerships. She has worked with local law enforcement and the Florida Sheriff’s Association Cold Case Commission to re-examine 28 Hillsborough County cold cases. In addition to bringing all the cases up to current investigation standards, Kimmerle and her team have identified 5 of the 14 bodies they have exhumed thus far. Additionally, one individual, whose death was initially ruled accidental, has been reclassified as a victim of homicide.
And that’s not even Kimmerle’s most famous case, the one in which she was awarded the AAAS 2020 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.
From 2012 to 2016, Kimmerle led an investigation and dig at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Some of the children institutionalized at the school were sent by courts after committing serious crime, while others were sent as punishment for minor infractions, such as shoplifting. Most of the boys sent to the school, which was state-run, were Black and from families with few resources.
Kimmerle used ground penetrating radar, historical imagery analysis and traditional excavation techniques to exhume the remains of 51 boys—previously listed as “missing”—from unmarked graves. Her research, including skeletal analysis of human remains, ethnographic interviews and examination of archival documentation, revealed that the children at the school suffered beatings, forced labor, sexual abuse and malnutrition. Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of more than 65 volunteers from 12 law enforcement agencies and universities, Kimmerle positively identified 8 of the bodies using DNA, and another 14 using demography and the location and date of burials.
In addition to the victims of now-cold cases, the 2021 “Art of Forensics” exhibit also features a photographic series that portrays Tampa Bay professionals who contribute to these investigations—including Kimmerle herself—as well as other anthropologists, forensic artists, medical examiners, DNA experts, crime scene and death investigators, homicide detectives, prosecutors and judges.
Photo: Erin Kimmerle, USF forensic anthropologist and executive director of the Florida Institute for Forensic Anthropology and Applied Sciences, at “The Art of Forensics” exhibit. Credit: USF.