In a groundbreaking Special Edition, world-renowned forensic artist Marcel van Adrichem has revealed a stunning facial reconstruction depicting what John F. Kennedy might have looked like had he lived to the age of 108.
Van Adrichem, from the Netherlands, is celebrated for his meticulous work on cold cases and missing persons at International Investigation Missing Persons (IIMP), and has employed cutting-edge forensic techniques to bring the iconic president John F. Kennedy's face back to life.
Revisiting an iconic figure and shedding light on the missing
The striking reconstruction not only offers a glimpse into an alternate historical timeline but also highlights van Adrichem's tireless mission to use his forensic artistry to illuminate unresolved disappearances.
"For me, it's never just a face. It's a person who hasn't yet come home," van Adrichem explains. "That makes it both confronting and meaningful. On the one hand, I see the technical side: the anatomy, the structure, the build. On the other hand, I feel the responsibility. I'm trying to give someone back to the world."
Working closely with the House of Lost Faces Foundation, which supports families of missing persons and strives to keep their stories alive, van Adrichem's work invites readers to reflect on history, memory, and the extraordinary power of science to recreate the faces of those lost to time.
The expert has worked on some of the most infamous missing persons cold cases, including the March 2009 disappearance of 35 year-old chef Claudia Lawrence and Amy Bradley, a 23 year old from Petersburg, Virginia, who vanished in 1998 while aboard a cruise ship.
JFK's enduring legacy and relevance
John F. Kennedy, the 35th U.S. president, served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He faced the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and 1962's Cuban Missile Crisis against Soviet Russia, which brought the planet to the brink of WW3.
JFK also supported the civil rights movement and initiated the Apollo space program in 1961, setting the goal of landing a man on the moon before 1970. His assassination on November 22, 1963, remains one of the most discussed events in history.
"JFK is a global symbol," van Adrichem notes. "He influenced an entire generation. Reconstructing JFK is valuable because he is an essential figure in politics, culture, and world history. A reconstruction helps to safeguard facts, debunk myths, strengthen education, and visualize his lasting impact."
When viewers see one of van Adrichem's reconstructions, their brains immediately activate memory, emotion, intuitive recognition, and pattern recovery. The result is that the viewer perceives not just an image, but a person.
"The human brain has a natural urge to assign identity," van Adrichem explains. "In reconstructions, this means the face is given a 'soul,' the eyes are seen as alive, features are supplemented from the viewer's own memory. This is why a realistic reconstruction works so well in identification: if someone knew the person, their brain completes the match."
A unique blend of exclusive technology and human instinct
Van Adrichem's forensic facial reconstructions are distinguished by a unique method that combines exclusive technology, developed specifically for him, with his innate gift for human recognition.
"What makes my method unique is that I work with my own proprietary technological system," van Adrichem reveals. "It's a software architecture and workflow written specifically for me and used nowhere else in the world in this way. This system was developed based on my personal reconstruction method, my insights into craniofacial anatomy, my knowledge of tissue thickness, asymmetry, and aging patterns, and my need for maximum accuracy and realism."
The other half of the process, however, is determined not by technology, but by something only the human brain can do: the natural gift of recognizing and completing faces.
"When someone looks at one of my reconstructions, their brain fills in missing information, reads expression and nuance, projects life into the face, completes an incomplete image," van Adrichem says. "The system makes the reconstruction technically accurate. The brain makes it human."
Reconnecting the lost with their names, stories, and families
For van Adrichem, the ultimate goal is always to help people reconnect with their name, their story, and their family.
"It touches me every time," van Adrichem admits. "Because I'm not looking at a 3D model or a technical product—I'm looking at someone who once lived, someone with a story, someone with people who miss them."
"If one person recognizes the face and thereby finds a name, a family, or a truth," he adds, "then everything I see, every minute of work, is more than worth it."
Through his unique blend of exclusive technology and human brainpower, van Adrichem brings unknown faces back to life, making them complete, recognizable, and dignified once again – all in the hope of helping people reconnect with their names, their stories, and their families.
To reach out to Marcel email info@iimissingpersons.org or visit his website www.iimissingpersons.org
