The Girl Next Door

Will Forensic Reconstruction Help ID Nameless Murder Victim?

(CBS) 
Dudek has assembled a team of forensic experts, including anthropologist Allison Galloway, who will examine Jane’s bones for clues that could provide a better estimate of her age.

“The bones all suggest she’s pretty much finished growing; I think she’s probably much more, say like 14 to 17,” says Galloway.

In another attempt to pinpoint Jane’s age, Dudek has turned to Dr. Duane Spencer, a dentist and forensic specialist.

“This is the dental X-rays now of the maxilla and mandible of Jane Doe. Her wisdom tooth is just starting to get its roots," says Dr. Spencer.

Comparing her X-rays to some his other teenage patients, Dr. Spencer says he is comfortable saying Jane Doe is in the age range of 14 to 17.

But Dudek believes the most important key to unlocking this mystery is to get a better picture of what Jane looked like alive and for that, he calls in forensic artist Gloria Nusse, who will make a sculpture of Jane based on her bone structure.

Nusse and Dr. Galloway studied Jane’s skull for clues to the girl’s facial features. It’s part science, part guesswork.

How can she reconstruct a person's face based on a skull?

"Well the information is in the bone," she explains. "It tells me that the width of the cheekbones is this; it tells me that you know, the slope of the forehead is this. Every skull is absolutely unique but the landmarks are the same."

But Nusse also needs a sense of Jane’s ethnic background to create a sculpture that will hopefully resemble the dead girl closely enough for someone out there to recognize her.

"Most of the features we’re seeing are European. But there are some features that suggest that she might have either Asian or Native American background,” says Galloway.

The first step is to make a mold of the skull, so Jane’s body can be returned to the cemetery in the morning. Nusse will work all night long to make it.

She’ll then bring the mold to her studio where she’ll work on it for weeks to bring Jane to life.

“The next part is the fun part; putting the clay on; and finding her face; what she looks like,” explains Nusse. "These little markers are showing the depth of tissue at these specific points on the skull."

Those markers tell Nusse how thick the clay should be over different parts of the face, to get an accurate and lifelike shape.

“I’m going to put on her mouth. I know the measurement; the width of her lips because I measured that on her skull," says Nusse. "I just want to try to make her look like a person. I can see a sly little smile, there’s a softness to her eyes. All that she’s been through, this is her chance, and it just needs to be absolutely perfect.”

Five weeks after the exhumation and after some 40 hours of work, Gloria Nusse is putting the final touches on the forensic reconstruction.

When the sculpture was finished, Sgt. Dudek was convinced he’s one giant step closer to finding out Jane’s real name and the identity of her killer. "This looks like a human being. She’s done such a fantastic, wonderful job,” he says.

The sculpture of Jane Doe was revealed to the public in August 2005 at a press conference, and Sgt. Scott Dudek has never been so optimistic.

He was also spreading the word to detectives from other police agencies, reaching out to more than 200 agencies.

But he's also relying on arm-chair detectives like Ellen Leach, a Home Depot cashier from Mississippi.