Clay and Bones: My Life as an FBI Forensic Artist

Told with unflinching honesty and a touch of gallows humor, Clay and Bonesis the personal memoir of the first female forensic sculptor in the FBI.

Lisa Bailey never considered a career working in death until she saw the FBI job posting for a forensic artist. The idea of using her artistic skill to help victims of crime was too compelling to pass up.

Soon she was documenting crime scenes, photographing charred corpses, and digitally retouching the disembodied heads of suicide bombers. But it was facial approximation--sculpting a face from the remnants of an unidentified victim’s skull--that intrigued her the most. Bailey knew that if she could capture that person’s likeness in clay, she just might help them be identified, and that might help law enforcement track down their killer.

Bailey worked on hundreds of cases and grew to become a subject matter expert in the field. It was the most challenging and fulfilling work she could have imagined, and she never thought of leaving. But her life changed when she became the target of sexual discrimination and harassment. She was stunned when FBI management protected the abusers and retaliated with threats, slander, and an arsenal of lawyers. Trapped in an increasingly hostile work environment, and infuriated at the hypocrisy of the FBI’s tactics, Bailey decided to fight back.

Clay and Bones is a memoir with a mission, and a fascinating exploration into the surreal and satisfying work of a forensic artist.

Lisa Bailey is a retired FBI forensic artist, adjunct faculty member of the FBI Academy, and instructor of the FBI Forensic Facial Imaging Class. She has been featured prominently in major news outlets such as the Washington Post, National Public Radio, America’s Most Wanted, Dateline NBC, and A&E Real Crime. Bailey and her forensic art also appear in Mental Floss, Medium, and the National Museum of Health and Medicine.