3D Scanning and 3D Printing Helps Close Cold Case

The New York State Police recently turned to the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center for their 3D scanning and printing expertise to help solve a cold case. The decades-old unsolved murder of a woman who was found in the woods near Chester, New York, had long been irrelevant due to that fact that police were never able to identify who the deceased woman was. Fortunately for forensics’ sake, she had supposedly been shot in the chest (multiple times) and fell onto her back which left her fingers more protected and preserved from wildlife and weather.

The supposed murder victim – Shirlene Dixon

Not until 2015 was a fingerprint match found in the estimated 9 million fingerprint records within the New York State Police’s computer system. The prints matched those of Shirlene Dixon who had been arrested in 1969, but they could not find much information on her. In order to verify that this truly was Shirlene Dixon who had been murdered, investigators exhumed the woman’s body in March of 2016. The fingerprints were ran through a more detailed database and a bone sample was sent to the University of North Texas where DNA analysis – both nuclear and mitochondrial – was conducted in order to find a living relative.

Authorities then turned to State University of New York New Paltz and their Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center to produce a 3D printed replica of the Jane Doe’s skull so that the forensic sketch artist could work give give Jane Doe a face. Staff members and students at the center worked in collaboration with Anthropologists at the university on this project. They utilized the 3D scanners, 3D printers and fabrication technologies at the center to produce an accurate match.

The 3D printed replica made at the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center

As it turns out, Jane Doe was eventually identified by the investigators – and she didn’t have just one name. According to authorities, the body did belong to Shirlene Dixon. However, this was only confirmed when police discovered Shirlene had also been arrested under the names Acey Moore and Evelyn Moore. A man who was arrested with her in 1969, when she was going by the name Acey Moore, told police that the woman was actually deeply involved in the heroin trade. The man went on to provide that the last time he ever saw her, she was confronted by a couple gentlemen in 1970.

Police are now fairly certain that Jane Doe’s real name is actually Evelyn Moore. They have also found a possible relative and are awaiting DNA test results to determine if their predictions hold true. They are continually working to find the person responsible for her killing. There list of suspects includes various big names in the drug dealing world, including kingpin Nicky Barnes,

Original Source: https://3dprint.com/170636/hvamc-murder-victim-skull/