How are age progression photos made for missing people?
An age progression chart showing what a missing person might look like today could be critical to finding clues, reigniting public interest and hope for families, and bringing someone home.
But for those who haven’t seen their children or loved ones in years, seeing the familiar but different face of someone who has been gone for so long can be deeply emotional.
Police, journalists and charities such as Missing People use these digitally created images to raise public awareness. Independent and Missing People launched SafeCall this weekIt aims to raise £165,000 for a new free service providing support and safety to the 70,000 children reported missing each year.
donate Here or text SAFE to 70577 to donate £10 to Missing People, enough for one child to get help.
As new evidence dries up and the evidence goes cold, police call in forensic expert Tim Widden to create footage they can use to obtain more information.
he said Independent: “It’s absolutely incredibly painful for families who have lost loved ones, and I think it’s really important to be able to play a part in ending that suspicion and uncovering the truth of what happened.”
When asked to create a picture, he uses the most recent photos of the missing person, along with photos of his parents and siblings, to see how they might have aged.
By analyzing other family members, Mr. Widden can often detect family trends in how the face changes.
Young children’s faces are particularly difficult to predict because they change rapidly before puberty, when facial structure is closer to the adult form, he said. Usually an adult would not create their image until at least ten years had passed since their disappearance, but for children this could be much earlier.
Missing People’s head of digital campaigns, Amy Walker, warned it could be a difficult time for many parents.
“No matter how hard you try to warn them, the emotions often catch up with you, and maybe you didn’t expect it to have such an impact on you,” he said. Independent.
“[But] A lot of family members do it because something new needs to happen, to try to get people moving again, to keep that hope alive.”
Even finding photos to share with Mr. Widden can be painful, she added: “You start with that box of memories, which will bring up all kinds of things and can sometimes trigger the fact that the reason you’re looking at those photos is because the person you loved isn’t still here.”
“Especially if they were children when they were kidnapped or disappeared.”
Mr Widden, who has been creating coming-of-age images for a decade, has worked on some of Britain’s most high-profile cases. Their footage directly located the two men and yielded many clues.
“In my experience, whenever we release a new coming-of-age image, we often receive a lot of observations or intelligence and pass these on to the police,” Ms Walker said.
As well as photographs, Mr Widden also takes into account medical information and lifestyle factors such as dental or eye conditions or smoking habits. He recently conducted an age progression study of an elderly man who had been missing for only four years, and it was believed that his health conditions at the time may have affected his appearance.
He added: “It’s not always about someone realizing they’re getting older and saying, ‘Wait, I see that guy on my bus or on my way to work’… Maybe a witness who didn’t come forward might have been reminded of their case and came forward.”
Mr. Widden does not speak directly to the families; He said it was best to remain neutral about the evidence he received. “You hope they are happy with the image, but you also need to prioritize the purpose of that image, which is to help find the missing person,” he explained.
“You have to be aware that the image you produce may not be the image the family wants.”
Ms Walker added: “It can bring you into a completely different space, because the face you’ve been dreaming about all these years hasn’t aged, because you had no idea what it would look like, because you couldn’t see them, because you’re living in this terrible limbo, waiting for the news and waiting for them to come home.”
Parm Sandhu, a former chief superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, said: “Age progression images are a vital investigative tool for police when someone is missing for a long period of time.”
“These images keep cases visible, help renew public interest, and often generate new leads from people who may recognize the person in the updated image.”
Please donate now SafeCall campaign launched by The Independent and charity Missing People to help raise £165,000 to create a free service to help find new, safe futures for vulnerable children.
If you or a loved one is lost, text Missing People or call 116 000 for advice, support and options. It’s free, confidential and non-judgmental. Or visit: misspeople.org.uk/get-help
