NEED TO KNOW
- Arizona authorities used artificial intelligence to help identify human remains discovered in a remote area in December 2024
- After seeing the AI-generated image of what he would have looked like alive, Ronald Woolf, 55, was quickly identified as the John Doe
- An investigation into his death is ongoing
Authorities in Arizona used artificial intelligence to help identify a man whose remains were found late last year.
In December 2024, a passerby found the partially decomposed and unclothed remains in a remote desert area near the San Joaquin Trailhead, according to KOLD-13.
When police arrived at the scene, they confirmed that the remains belonged to a man — but that was all they knew for sure, reported ABC affiliate KGUN-TV.
After months of unsuccessful attempts to identify him using fingerprints and DNA, Pima County Sheriff’s Department detective Pedro Carranco decided to see if AI could help them figure out what the man would have looked like while he was still alive.
Armed with a sketch rendering of the John Doe, he used an online AI program to come up with the image, which was then handed out to a number of local media outlets, reported the Arizona Daily Star.
“I just input ‘show me what this sketch would look like as a Caucasian male with blonde hair and some white facial hair,’ ” said Carranco, according to NBC affiliate KVOA.
It didn’t take long before they got a response.
“In less than five, 10 hours of you posting it on your news sites’ stations, we had that call that said, ‘I think I know who that is,’ ” Pima County Sherif Chris Nanos said during a press conference, according to KGUN-TV.
As soon as they saw the image, the family of 55-year-old Ronald Woolf immediately recognized him.
“What’s clear is that without that…AI-generated photo, I don’t know if we would have ever identified Mr. Woolf,” the sheriff said during the press conference.
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During the press conference Carranco said the news they delivered to the man’s family wasn’t what his loved ones were hoping for, “but they were thankful to have some answers.”
An investigation into his death, which is being treated as a possible homicide, remains ongoing — but now police say they’ll be able to pursue new avenues of information.
“It opens up more leads that we can follow up on, see who the last person he was talking to or where he was at,” said Carranco, according to KVUE.
When reached for additional comment by PEOPLE, a public information officer said the department had no new information to share.
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