Frank Bender, a forensic artist and sculptor

Forensic artist creates sculpture of woman found dead in 2001

County coroner says model of woman found in Williams Twp. is 'last-ditch effort to find out who she is.'

A forensic artist has created a sculpture of a homicide victim found in 2001 in a wooded area of Williams Township, according to the artist's website.

The woman's skeletal remains were found by hunters on Dec. 30, 2001. At the time of the discovery, investigators said they believed the body had been there at least six months.

The case was labeled suspicious, but authorities would not reveal how the woman died.

Frank Bender, a forensic artist, created a sculpture of what the woman may have looked like, according to his website. Bender creates facial reconstructions based on the remains and used the woman's skull to create the likeness.

The sculpture will be unveiled Tuesday morning at a news conference at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, said Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek, who is hoping the case will attract national media attention.

Lysek said he's known Bender for years and asked him to reconstruct the woman's face in hopes of identifying her.

"The case has bothered me for years," Lysek said. "Even with DNA testing, we haven't been able to identify her. This is really a last-ditch effort to find out who she is."

To preserve the integrity of the investigation, he declined to comment on the cause or manner of the woman's death.

Bender has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the Williams case may be one of the last sculptures he will complete, according to his website.

The woman was between the ages of 25 and 40 and stood about 5 feet 4 inches tall. She was white, had a small build and reddish brown hair. Police said she had extensive dental work, including root canals and crowns.

She wore a leather hair barrette with a wood stick pin and had artificial nails with a French manicure design.

Anyone with information about the woman's identity may call Lysek at 610-258-1806 or state police in Belfast at 866-279-5679.

According to his website, Bender has worked with law enforcement agencies across the country to help create forensic sculptures of homicide victims.

One of his most famous projects was to create a bust of John List, an accountant from New Jersey who killed his wife, mother and three children in 1971.

List fled and disappeared for nearly 20 years and was discovered living under an assumed identity after Bender's sculpture was released.