Capitol Police officer Cherie Ryan began doing forensic modeling in 1989 while working for the Dallas Police Department.

Getting answers from typically unwilling sources is what detective work is all about. So, after a hiker stumbled upon a partial human skull in the southern Arizona desert around Benson, the city police department decided to enlist the help of an expert — one who specializes in helping sources who can’t talk reveal vital information. 
This case represents the seventh facial reconstruction produced in Arizona by forensic artist and State Capitol Police Officer Cherie Ryan, who says it’s essential to avoid giving the 3-D works of art “personality” in order to secure a possible identification.
“I used to try to make a slight smile, but that was too much,” says Ryan, “so now I try to make them look like they are talking.”
Ryan, who has done similar work for the Dallas Police Department, has provided guidance in facial reconstruction to the top law enforcement agencies in the country, including the U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). She even lent her expertise for an episode of the TV show “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
In addition to her skills in facial reconstruction, she can also provide post-mortem, composite and age-progressed drawings and renderings of unusual property or markers for courtroom presentations.
It was while working as a crime scene detective in Dallas in 1989 that Ryan first became aware of forensic art. Shortly thereafter, she had her first real-world test — comparing her forensic modeling work to that of an established professional.
Dallas police enlisted Ryan to assist in the identification of a skull that they had found. After receiving advice from a pathologist, Ryan styled the head to appear 20 years older and with much shorter hair than what the young female victim, in her 20s, had.
Ryan’s work held up.
“Her (the young girl’s) family and friends kept telling her mother that she (the mother) was on TV,” says Ryan. “The girl was identified because she looked like her mother.”
Ryan received her education by working with top professionals and agencies in the field, including the FBI’s Academy for Police Artists in Quantico, Va. and Betty Pat Gatliff, considered the founder of forensic sculpture in the United States and who was called a “forensic legend” by the Wall Street Journal.
Ryan says she enjoys the forensic work, which she does in addition to her normal assignment with the Capitol Police — guarding the Industrial Commission building in Tucson. “They’re paying me to color and play with clay,” she says.
Ryan has taught facial reconstruction at every level, been interviewed for TV, radio and print articles and even provided technical advice to novelists. She also founded the forensic art unit within the Dallas Police Department while she still worked there.
It was one class though, that should help Ryan the most with her latest case. While attending a course on facial reconstruction in Ohio, the aspiring student was asked to teach a portion of the class regarding facial reconstructions with missing mandibles — more commonly known as lower jaw bones.
The skull in the Benson case was missing its mandibles. The reconstruction of the Benson desert skull took four days to complete, including fashioning the missing jaw bone based on other facial dimensions.
The skull, now covered with synthetic skin, hair and eyes, looks like a person’s face. But the challenge is not to make the damaged, partial skull look like somebody.
Ryan said the identification rate of forensic 3-D modeling is between 10 and 15 percent. So, the real test remains: Will someone see familiarity — perhaps a missing friend or loved one — revealed through her work??