Dubai Police find decomposed body, digitally recreate his face

The Dubai Police have used 3D facial reconstruction to generate an image of a man, who was found dead at sea. The police are now seeking public assistance in identifying the man.

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He was aged between 35 and 45.

Residents are advised to call 901 with any information they may have.

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The man’s decomposed remains were found at sea. The General Department of Forensics and Criminology used 3D technology to recreate his face.

‘A challenging case’

Major-General Dr Ahmed Eid Al Mansoori, Director of the forensics department, said reconstructing the deceased’s face was “very challenging” as the body was almost completely decomposed.

“An elite team of coroners, digital forensics experts, and professionals from the General Department of Artificial Intelligence worked tirelessly to compile an identikit of the deceased using the latest technologies in digital facial reconstruction," he added.

No DNA, no fingerprints

Brigadier Ahmed Matar Al Muhairi, Deputy Director of the department, said the remains were found a month back.

“The remains were severely decomposed due to climatic conditions and corpse erosion as a result of its direct exposure to marine organisms,” he explained.

Brigadier Al Muhairi pointed out that identifying the man was extremely difficult as the deceased’s DNA did not match any registered in the department’s database. His fingerprints could not retrieved because of the decomposition.

Unearthing vital details

Dr Yunus Al Balooshi, a forensic consultant, explained: “It was very difficult to determine the person’s skin colour and tone as the body’s pigments had disappeared for it had been in the water for a long time.

“Nevertheless, our forensic experts were able, through specialised tests, to determine that the deceased had moderately pigmented brown skin similar to Asians and those from the Middle East.”

During the second stage, the team worked to verify the hair colour and length. This was done through a single hair strand left on the body.

“We conducted a number of specialised forensic examinations on that single hair, and confirmed that the deceased had thick hair and around 3cm in length,” Al Balooshi added.

He added that they then determined the age through the use of “osteopathy and pelvic osteometry”.

“We also analysed the skin thickness, eye colour and other necessary vital information and forwarded the thorough anthropology report to the Visual Evidence Analysis Department for further investigations,” Al Balooshi said.

Recreating the face

Major Dr Hamad Al Awar, Head of the Visual Evidence Analysis Department, said the team took an x-ray image, and performed a three-dimensional scan of the head area and skull.

The face was then digitally restored.

Major Al Awar said the police have been using the digital facial reconstruction technique since 2007.

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