A Coruña, July 16, 2024.- CITIC of Universidade da Coruña and the DaSCI Institute of the University of Granada, in collaboration with the company Panacea Cooperative Research, have developed an innovative technique to improve forensic identification of human remains. CITIC researcher Óscar Panizo participates in the development of this technique, which is based on craniofacial superimposition and analyzes the correspondence between a post mortem skull and ante mortem facial photographs.

The new methodology represents a significant advance in objective decision-making, allowing the probability of a skull matching the studied photographs to be quantified. Although craniofacial superimposition is a crucial technique in forensic identification, its application has traditionally been complex and subjective.

The study introduces an evaluation system based on likelihood ratios (LRs), a methodology previously used in other forensic fields such as DNA analysis, voice identification, and fingerprints, and recommended by the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI).

The research proposes the pioneering application of this approach in craniofacial superimposition through three experiments that train and test the system under different facial image conditions. The first uses frontal photographs, the second employs lateral photographs, and the third integrates both perspectives.

The results of the experiments show that the proposed LR system offers excellent calibration and discriminatory power, providing forensic experts with a quantitative tool to evaluate and integrate evidence.

Bibliographic reference:

Práxedes Martínez-Moreno, Andrea Valsecchi, Pablo Mesejo, Óscar Ibañez, Sergio Damas. Evidence evaluation in craniofacial superimposition using likelihood ratios. Information Fusion (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2024.102489