Snohomish County investigators have released a new sketch to help identify human remains found in Mountlake Terrace earlier this year. The medical examiner's office believes the person may have died several years before their body was discovered.

Snohomish County

Investigators in Snohomish County have released a forensic sketch to aid in identifying human remains discovered in Mountlake Terrace. The remains, found earlier in the year, are believed to have been there for several years before being found. The sketch was created using forensic art software and information from a forensic anthropologist, focusing on the bone structure, as details like hair and skin color are artist estimates.

The sketch has already helped rule out four missing women from the area, though no positive identification has been made yet. Authorities encourage anyone who recognizes facial features from the sketch to contact the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. The process has proven effective in past cases, with similar sketches leading to successful identifications.

New forensic sketch released to identify remains in Snohomish County

Investigators in Snohomish County are hoping a new sketch can help identify human remains discovered earlier this year. Take a good look at this image of what she may have looked like. The remains were found in Mountlake Terrace back in January, but the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office believes she would have likely been dead for many years before her remains were found. Tonight we're getting some insight into how this image was created. Joining me now is Natalie Murray, the certified forensic artist who created that sketch. Natalie, let's jump right in. A lot of people have been offering suggestions about who the woman may be, and it's based off of your 2D reconstruction. How did you determine what she may have looked like? Okay, David, I got information from the forensic anthropologist at King County Medical Examiner's Office. He gave me what the sex was and the ancestry on the skull, and so I took back the information when I photographed the skull from the Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office. All I got was a cranium, and I took that information back. I photographed her, took it back to my home, and did the drawing in my digital forensic art software. So Natalie, walk us through how you created that forensic sketch. Alright, well this is the sketch sort of midpoint, but I'm going to show you some of the basic landmarks that I have on the face as I'm doing the drawing. The blue marks that I have on the sides in the middle of the eyes and on the sides of the nose and the mouth, those are my landmarks showing me where to attach the eyelids and where the center of the eye is, where the outside of the nose is, and where the measurements on the mouth are. So that's telling me where to attach the features on the face. So when I come through, that's going to show it there, and that's showing where the eyeballs live on the eyes. And so when I come through and do the drawing, that will show me where things are going to fit on the face, and that's the basic drawing there. And then when I darken it in, that's the face that you're looking at. And then I just add hair on top of that as you see there, and then a face, then a sweater on top of that. But this is the part that I want you to look at. That's the part that the skull is telling me is there. The information that I am given is just the bone. It has nothing to do with the hair or the skin tone even. That's just a guess on the artist's part. You're just focusing on the facial features. So what the skull tells me is the layout of the face, where they are, how long the nose is, how wide the mouth is, how tall the lips are. That's what I want you to look at. Where the eyes fall on the face, where the ears are, the shape of the face. That's what you need to look at. I'm just guessing at the color of the hair. That's what looked right to me on this skull. And honestly, I didn't have a mandible either, so it's what looked right on the length of the face. When I drew the top part of the face, that's what kind of fit with the cranium of the skull. So I mean, if she has a chin like Jay Leno, I'm not gonna know that. But where we go, where a forensic artist fits on that is basically using facial cannons on what looks correct on that size of a face. And so that's what I drew here. But where everything else goes, where the color of the skin and the color of the hair, that's just a guess on my part. Let me ask you about the sweater. Is that some piece of information they gave you? They found a sweater or you just added that? That is not. No, I just need to put something on her so she's not a head floating in space. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's great information. Natalie, these are the questions people ask me, so I'm very grateful to you for your time. Okay. Okay, sure. While the sketch has not yet led to a positive ID on the remains, it has helped rule out these four names of women who are missing in our area. They are not a match to the skull. If you think you see a trait of hers that you recognize, please contact the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. You can submit a tip by calling 425-388-3845. Yeah, it's so fascinating that you talked to her because what I learned from that is when you look at those sketches and you see them all the time when you're looking for somebody, I used to take it literally. I would look at the skin or the color of their hair and take that literally, but she's saying, hey, look, just pay attention to the shape of the face. I thought that was very, very helpful. That's exactly why I wanted to talk to her because everybody has been posting women that look exactly like her, same hair color, same eye color. That's all just a guess on her part, an educated guess, but just a guess. Yeah, and so has any of her actual, you know, past work, have it identified anyone? Yeah, absolutely it has. Let me show you an example. In Chelan County, look at the image on the left. This is an image that Natalie sketched. There was a Parks Department employee that looked at that sketch and immediately recognized the man as a man who he knew from contacting him in the park multiple times. So they were able to positively identify him and then reach out to his family. So it does work. Fascinating. Right, David, thank you.

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