Renowned Forensic Artist Unveils ‘Unofficial’ Sketch of Suspect in Nancy Guthrie Case
Arenowned forensic artist stepped out of retirement to draw an unofficial sketch of the masked suspect in the Nancy Guthrie case.
Lois Gibson, a Guinness World Record тιтle holder and retired Houston Police Department forensic artist, created the sketch based on the grainy surveillance footage released by the FBI.
Gibson clarified that she was not asked by any agency to do an official police sketch, but she felt a hard need to help in the search for Nancy.
“I knew the pain that the loved ones were going through,” Gibson told FOX 26. “It’s the most horrific, insane torture if you have a kidnapping… every minute seems like a half hour because you say, ‘Where are they? Are they being killed? Can I stop it?’”
Forensic Artist Says Nancy Guthrie Suspect Likely ‘Below 40’
Gibson, who retired in 2021, acknowledged that creating the sketch was especially challenging because the suspect’s face was covered.
She noted that much of her work is an “educated guess” based on mathematical probability and decades of experience.
Given that the suspect is wearing a mask, the forensic artist focused on the visible features, including the eyes, eyelids, and mustache.
“I have the philtrum ratio to where the eyes are, and I know the nose ends there,” Gibson explained to FOX 26. “I got the eye shape… I got this mustache. If I had to bet my house and car, yeah, he had the mustache.”
Gibson also believes that the man in the video is “young” and could be of any race.
“He’s young. He’s below 40, I believe,” she told Inside Edition. “And other than that, he could be Latino, white, Lebanese, just any kind of race.”
Lois Gibson Admits ‘Unofficial’ Sketch May Not Be Accurate
Despite her 43 years of experience in the field, Gibson acknowledges her sketches in this case may not be completely accurate.
“The guy might have tattoos all over his face. I might have the facial hair wrong,” she pointed out. “But I had to try, and I’ll take the hit if I’m wrong.”
As the search for Nancy Guthrie enters its second week, Lois Gibson hopes her unofficial sketch will help generate new leads and ultimately aid in solving the case.
Gibson holds the Guinness World Records тιтle for “Most criminals positively identified due to the composites of one artist.” Over the span of her career, she has worked with over 5,000 cases and helped identify 1,313 suspects with her sketches.
