Age-Progression Imaging to Find Missing Persons
We are delighted to hear the Australian Federal Police have released age-progressed images of people who went missing as small children. This greatly assists people on the lookout for them. Without the updated information, they could be looking at them without realising it. [ Read more here www.missingpersonsinaustralia.com.au ]
The six children concerned are all still under eighteen, and the police ‘hold grave fears for their safety’. At least one of them could be in another country. If the police find him, they could apply for his return under the Hague Convention. This could be one of over a hundred they process in a typical year.
How Age-Progression Imaging Works
Age progression is the modifying, or adapting of a photo to bring it up to date so it represents the person’s current facial features. In past times, skilled artists did the work. Nowadays there are imaging tools available that use digital filters and algorithms. They have become an essential tool for law enforcement. Remember, the police are not only searching for missing children. They are also looking for criminals on the run for many years.
There are two main categories of age-progression imaging. These represent the two key stages of child to adult, and adult to senior in old age. These progressions form the basis of many fascinating movies and novels. For example, in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gay’ the central character’s appearance locks in time until the end of the story. Then it suddenly fast-forwards to the present moment in a dramatic instant of rapid aging.
Age-Progressing Images in the Public Domain
It was inevitable there would be spin-offs of the technology on the internet. Curious parents want to know how their kids will mature. Other people wonder what an old flame looks like now. We caution against what is supposed to be a serious scientific tool. In the wrong hands, self-concepts can suffer harm, and negative self-fulfilling prophecies come true.
A Little More About the Australian Police Project
The project focuses on six kids, four girls and two boys. They include brother and sister, Thomas and Serena Speath. They vanished with their mother when they were four and five respectively on December 5 2014, but their father is still desperately looking for them.
Another, Mathieu-Pierre Macintosh would be 14 years old now. At the time he disappeared, his parents were apart with his father having custody. He joined his mother in France for a six-week holiday in 2013, and then vanished. The Federal Circuit has an order in place to return him, but first the police must find him.
If you or someone you known needs help finding a missing person call the Skip Trace Private Investigators on
1300 553 788 or email gm@qldcovertpi.com.au
