The SLED Forensic Art Unit assists local law enforcement agencies in Unidentified Remains cases. When human remains are found and the identity of the deceased person is unknown, this unit provides artistic renderings of what the victim/person may have looked like in life.
The following links are cases that the SLED Forensic Art Unit has assisted with in hopes to identify the deceased. If you have information that will help investigators, please contact the agency listed with the case.
sled.sc.gov/wanted.html
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) is a national clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States.
It is estimated that 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered each year, with approximately 1,000 of those bodies remaining unidentified after one year. Coroners in South Carolina submit case information to NamUs is an effort to one day give the individual their name back. Please visit their website to see if you can assist with the identification of a missing person or unidentified decedent.
namus.nij.ojp.gov/
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provides assistance to Coroners with unidentified child remains. When human remains are found that are believed to belong to a child, NCMEC can assist Coroners in the effort to give that child back their name. This process includes assisting in the collection and dissemination of DNA, dentals, fingerprints, and other unique identifiers to help determine the identities of these children. NCMEC’s forensic artists also create facial reconstructions of what the child might have looked like in life in hopes that someone will recognize him or her. Please visit their webpage, Help Id Me at
https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/helpidme
On December 29, 2020 skeletal remains of an unidentified male were found in a marsh off the Wando River in Charleston, South Carolina. The marsh was next to Daniel Island. Only the skull was recovered. Forensic professionals have assessed that the male was African American and approximately 17 to 21 years old. He had been deceased for an extended period of time, likely over a year. The image displayed is a facial reconstruction created by a NCMEC Forensic Artist and depicts what the male may have looked like in life.
On January 14, 2006 an unidentified male was found deceased in North Charleston, South Carolina. The male was found inside a minivan that was parked at a rest area along the eastbound lanes of Interstate 26. He had only been deceased a few hours before he was found. The male is estimated to be 18-30 years old. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He stood approximately 5?1? tall and weighed around 117 pounds. An abdominal scar was present that was consistent with the male having a prior appendectomy. The male was found clothed wearing black jeans, a short-sleeved multicolored striped polo shirt with a long-sleeve maroon plaid button up shirt on top. A Mexican voter registration card with the name ?Gustavo Rosas Hernandez? was found with the male but it is unknown if it belonged to him or not. The image above is a facial reconstruction created by a NCMEC Forensic Artist and depicts what the male may have looked like in life.
On August 20, 2006 a skull was recovered by fisherman in the Wando River in Charleston County, South Carolina. The skull was found under the Wando Bridge. It?s estimated that the male had been deceased for several years before being found. He is estimated to be 14-19 years old. An anthropological assessment determined the child is of mixed ancestry, showing both black and white traits. Only the cranium was recovered, no other bones including the mandible have been found. The image shown is a facial reconstruction completed by a NCMEC Forensic Artist and depicts what the male may have looked like in life. While the mandible was not recovered, the artist was able to utilize a suitable match to complete the reconstruction. The lower half of his mouth down to his chin is an approximation by the artist.