December 19, 2023 Meeting Summary
Our meeting on December 19th featured Diana P. Trepkov, who is a Forensic Artist, Author, Lecturer, Creator, Producer & Host of the Podcast, “Can I Help Find Your Missing Loved One?” She is best known for her work in forensic art.
Diana introduced herself and the variety of roles and activities that she is involved in through a video called “Don’t Stop Believing”. To view this video, click on the button below:
Ms. Trepkov’s speech to our club was called Faces of the Franklin Expedition and was about how she used forensic art to create facial reconstructions of members of the lost Franklin Expedition, both as a reconstruction of the skull and through drawings.
This Expedition was described as one of Canada’s oldest missing persons cases. Members from the Sir John Franklin’s expedition sailed to the Arctic in 1845. In September 1846 both ships HMS EREBUS and HMS TERROR were stuck in the ice. Sadly, all members died.
Unidentified skulls were discovered in 1993 by a team of archaeologists led by Douglas Stenton, Nunavut’s Director of Heritage and Culture. The assessment by the archaeologists was that the skulls were from a historical time from the 1800’s, that each skull was of European ancestry with very prominent traits, both skulls belong to males ranging from 18 years to late 40’s, both were Caucasian of European ancestry, and that they were normal males who were neither slender nor obese. Two of these skulls were sent to Diana to reconstruct.
Diana explained that Forensic Facial Reconstruction was a way for the public to recognize a face from unidentified skeletal remains. The 3-dimensional facial reconstruction which is known as the “American Method” was developed by Gatliff in 1967, and that Forensic Art is 75% science and 25% art. She then showed how facial reconstructions helped to bring two unidentified skulls from the Franklin Expedition alive on a step-by-step basis. This included the use of tissue depth markers, carefully aligning the mandible with the skull, use of acrylic eyes, creation of the ears using oil base clay and special tools, and creation of hair by rolling oil base clay and placing the strips onto the head. Clothing from a Thrift store was then added to provide a life-like representation of the missing Franklin members. Ms. Trepkov also walked us through the process of 2D facial reconstruction.
Along with Forensic Facial Reconstruction that Diana did, DNA evidence confirmed the identity of one of the skulls to be the engineer on HMS Erebus, whose name was John Gregory.
Diana showed the impact that her work on Sir John Franklin’s expedition had. It was featured in the Toronto Star Newspaper “Face to Face with 2 Doomed Franklin Members.” Another article was written in the World in Brief Exclusive, Sunday Post in Scotland regarding the Franklin Expedition titled “170 years on, is this a face from one of the Navy’s darkest hours?”
Diana concluded by saving that fortunately, a skull gives many clues for identification. Facial reconstructions are used as an investigative tool that can help identify the unknown along with confirming future identification arising from DNA analysis.
After both of the three dimensional facial reconstructions (skull #1 and skull #2) were completed and photographed, the clay was carefully removed from the skulls. Both skulls were undamaged and returned for proper burial. Emotionally, Diana found that it was extremely difficult to take them apart…
After her presentation, Diana showed two more videos and had a quiz with prizes.
One video was called Diana Trepkov: Investigative Forensic Artist that focused on the search for missing loved ones. To see this video:
Her final video, was called Teaching Forensic Art from the Heart! and was how Artists can make the transition to being Forensic Artists. To see this video:
To learn more, visit Diana Trepkov’s website at dianatrepkov.com.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 