Francis Augustus "Frank" Bender (June 16, 1941 – July 28, 2011) was a world-renowned autodidact forensic artist and fine artist. His job was to make facial reconstructions of the dead and of fugitives, many of whom had, or still have, been on the run for a long time.[1] He primarily worked in clay and then cast his pieces into plaster and painted them, but he has also aged fugitives using pastels. His most famous facial reconstruction case led to the arrest of John Emil List, whose case was shown on America's Most Wanted.[2][3]
Bender's artistry stemmed from his forensic work and was a blend of art and science. He created life-sized monuments in bronze for the African Burial Grounds in New York (using three of the actual skulls found on the site),[4] a monument for slain police officers in New Jersey, a Holocaust obelisk.[5]
Bender was one of the founding members of the Vidocq Society along with William Fleisher and Richard Walter.[6] The Vidocq Society, named after Eugène François Vidocq, meets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and focuses on solving cold cases.[7]
On May 13, 2008 Random House released The Girl With the Crooked Nose by Ted Botha, a book on Bender's life story intertwined with his most challenging case: the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez.[8][9][10][11]
In August 2010 Penguin Books released The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo in which Frank Bender was a central character.[12] It is based on the Vidocq Society of which Bender is a founder.
In 2009,[13] Bender was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a disease caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos from his time in the Navy, putting an end to a distinguished career.[14]
Bender died on July 28, 2011 at his home in his native Philadelphia, aged 70, from pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer that attacks the outer lining of the lungs.[15]