Frank Bender facts for kids

Francis Augustus Bender (June 16, 1941 – July 28, 2011) was an autodidact forensic artist and fine artist. He made facial reconstructions of the dead based on their skeletons, and of fugitives based on outdated photographs, with his reconstructions showing how they might look in the present day. He primarily worked in clay and then cast his pieces into plaster and painted them, but he also created age-progression drawings of fugitives using pastels. His most famous facial reconstruction case was that of murderer John Emil List, who, after decades as a fugitive under a false identity, was captured a few days after Bender's bust of him was featured on America's Most Wanted.

Career

Bender created life-sized monuments in bronze for the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York, a monument for slain police officers in New Jersey, and a Holocaust obelisk.

Bender was one of the founding members of the Vidocq Society, along with William Fleisher and Richard Walter. The Vidocq Society, named after Eugène François Vidocq, meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and focuses on solving cold cases.