TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Jessica Romero, The Tucson Police Department (TPD) Lead Crime Scene Specialist is one of only 20 Certified Forensic Artists in the world.
The certification is through the International Association for Identification (IAI).
She had to successfully demonstrate sufficient training, experience, knowledge, understanding and skill in composite imaging, postmortem reconstruction, and age progression.
Composite imaging is the creation of an unknown subject developed from information obtained during an interview with a witness or victim.
Postmortem reconstruction are two and three dimensional depictions of an unidentified decedent for the purpose of identification.
She’s been with TPD for 10 years and spent seven of those as a forensic artist.
Romero says in her down time, she practices drawing different composite sketches to help her with her skill and speed.
“I’ve gotten faster over the years, and the fastest one I’ve done in the most recent case was about two hours," Romero said.
So how does she go about drawing a person of interest?
Romero sits down with the victims and witnesses and asks them what they remember about the suspect, exhausting their recollection.
"We allow the witness to tell us everything that they remember about the person of interest, anything from clothing to even smells voice like any pitches in the voice, or if there's an accent or anything unique about the voice jewelry," Romero explained. "And then the way I was trained is after that interview, I bring out reference material. So they describe the eyes or the nose. Some people might describe an eye as almond shape, and I might perceive that shape differently than the person. So they will go through a catalog and look at different features and they will tell me this is the kind of eye that I remember seeing. That way now I have a reference and I can draw what they’re pointing to and showing me."
She says the sketches are just a starting point to help lead investigators to the evidence they need to make an arrest.
Romero says the drawing isn’t hers — it belongs to the witness.
"I'm just putting it on paper for them because I did not see the person of interest. It's in their mind. So anything that needs to be altered or adjusted, they will tell me, and I let them know, let me know if something doesn't look right. I'm not going to get offended. This is not a work of art for me. This is for you. So it's very much a collaborative process with the victim or witness," Romero said.
Romero has done about 14 composite sketches and says one of them assisted with identification.
She says there's a lot of pressure when working with the witness because there's a time component.
"Where you don't want them to get bored because it does take a while. So I try to work on my skills, to be a little faster at drawing, to try to minimize the time that they sit there with me," Romero said.
As for postmortem sketches, she has drawn four, with three assisting in identifying John or Jane Doe's.
She says the first thing they do is look for fingerprints and anything with DNA. But if they've exhausted their investigative efforts to identify somebody, then that's when she'll step in to create a sketch.
These sketches take her about six to eight hours to complete.
“With the postmortem drawing, I do research beforehand. So I'll look at any available photos, body worn camera. I will look at autopsy photos so I can get different angles of the person and draw the most accurate representation that I can based on available information. So clothing, accessory, items, all that's very important," Romero said. "And I don't see that oftentimes in the autopsy photos because they've been cleaned. So looking at the scene photos is very important for something like that. So it does take me a while to get as much material as I can before I start the drawing."
Her most recent postmortem sketch is a man who was found dead on July 30, 2025, in a desert lot southwest of S. Park Ave. & E. Irvington Rd.
Officers say at the time he was wearing a floral shirt, black shorts & white sneakers. Investigators have exhausted all efforts & have not been able to identify him or locate his next of kin.
“With this subject I noticed that his eyebrows were a little bushy and he had white hair. He had a full set of hair that I can see up here. He did have an in between 5 o'clock shadow and a short beard and a distinct mustache, and underneath his lower lip it was fuller," Romero described. "The one thing that was very distinct about this individual was a skull necklace that he had. It was a metal chain with a skull pendant.”
Her art doesn’t stop on the paper, she even does 3D skull reconstruction using oil-based clay. It can be used as last resort if there are unknown remains and a skeleton.
“You would call it reanimate. You never know exactly what the person looked like because you don't have flesh. In postmortem drawings, you have a lot of information that's still available. With skeletal remains, you don't have any skin, sometimes you don't have hair, sometimes there is," Romero explained. "So what I would recommend is doing a scan of a skeleton and then 3D printing it to maintain the integrity of the original skull and then you can work off of that 3D printed skull or cast, and you apply skin depth markers based on different research that has been done."
Romero says she does not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with her sketches, nor does she believe it will take her job.
"It can be a tool that can be used strategically. I do believe that it, in my personal opinion, it shouldn't replace the artist, but it can be used in conjunction with the artists, depending on what kind of forensic art you're working on. If it's for composite drawing, you need to have that witness there, because they need to be able to make adjustments to anything. So I think it's like a tool like anything else, but my preferred media is graphite and clay. So I personally don't use it because I'm not doing anything digitally," Romero said.
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