title: Use of craniofacial superimposition in historic investigation.
abstract: A skeleton discovered in Grand Forks, North Dakota was purported to belong to Clelland "Clell" Miller, a James-Younger gang member, who was killed during the Northfield Bank robbery on September 7, 1876. A 3-D image from a computer tomography (CT) scan of the skull was obtained, and a craniofacial superimposition was conducted to determine if the skull could belong to Miller. The superimposition method used in this case was to overlay the CT image of the skull onto Miller's postmortem photograph. In addition to the craniofacial superimposition, the images were juxtaposed to compare similarities or differences in facial morphology between the skull and photograph. Superimposition methods can be used to exclude identifications; however, they should not be used as a conclusive method for identification. In this case, there were sufficient similarities between the skull and Miller's photograph; therefore, the skull could not be eliminated as possibly being that of Miller.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC, 28401.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Brogdon
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nichols
mesh_terms: D056667:Biometric Identification / Q000379:methods*; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D010781:Photography; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012984:Software; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Clelland Miller; James-Younger gang; Northfield bank robbery; computer tomography; craniofacial superimposition; facial morphology; forensic science