Harvey Pratt
Encyclopedia
Harvey Phillip Pratt is an American
forensic artist and Native American
artist
, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue
postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and hundreds of identification of unidentified human remains throughout America. His expertise in witness description drawing, skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, soft tissue postmortem drawing and restoration of photographs and videos have aided law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally. Pratt also assists investigations though training classes, besides lecturing before universities, colleges, schools and civic groups.
and is a member of the Cheyenne
& Arapaho
tribes where he is recognized as one of the traditional Cheyenne Peace Chiefs, also known as the Council of Forty-Four
. He has been recognized by the Cheyenne People as an Outstanding Southern Cheyenne. He is the great grandson of scout, guide, interpreter and Sand Creek massacre
survivor, Edmund Guerrier
. He is the great great grandson of American frontiersman, William Bent
. Pratt lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma
.
in 1972 as a narcotics investigator and retired in 1992 as an Assistant Director. He is now employed with the agency as a full time forensic specialist.
Pratt's forensic expertise has contributed to many high profile cases: The Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway), Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders
(Gene Leroy Hart), Henry Lee Lucas
and Ottis Toole
, Bobby Joe Long, The I-5 Killer (Randall Woodfield), Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, Tommy Lynn Sells
, World Trade Center 1993 bombings, Ted Bundy
, Sirloin Stockade Murders (Roger Dale Stafford, Verna Stafford and Harold Stafford), Joe Fischer, Roger Wheeler murder, the Oklahoma City bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
, Donald Eugene Webb
, Oklahoma State Fair Abducted Girls (Roy Russell Long), and Randolph Dial.
In the mid 1980s, Pratt developed the soft tissue postmortem drawing method. Using this method, the forensic artist draws or paints on the photograph of a victim to repair tissue damage or decomposition. The drawing repairs the trauma to the victim so that the final image will be more presentable when asking for law enforcement's or the public's assistance in identification.
Pratt has received awards for his artwork at Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, New Mexico
, and Red Earth Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
. In 2005, he was given the title "Master Artist" by Red Earth, as well as being selected as the Red Earth 2005 Honored One.
His works are in many permanent collections, including the National Park Service
, the Smithsonian Institution
, the Sequoyah National Research Center, and the University of Oklahoma
. He accepted state appointments to the Oklahoma Arts Council by Governor Frank Keating
and Governor Brad Henry
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forensic artist and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue
Soft tissue
In anatomy, the term soft tissue refers to tissues that connect, support, or surround other structures and organs of the body, not being bone. Soft tissue includes tendons, ligaments, fascia, skin, fibrous tissues, fat, and synovial membranes , and muscles, nerves and blood vessels .It is sometimes...
postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and hundreds of identification of unidentified human remains throughout America. His expertise in witness description drawing, skull reconstruction, skull tracing, age progression, soft tissue postmortem drawing and restoration of photographs and videos have aided law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally. Pratt also assists investigations though training classes, besides lecturing before universities, colleges, schools and civic groups.
Life
Pratt was born in El Reno, OklahomaEl Reno, Oklahoma
El Reno is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States, in the central part of the state. A part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, El Reno is west of downtown Oklahoma City...
and is a member of the Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
& Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...
tribes where he is recognized as one of the traditional Cheyenne Peace Chiefs, also known as the Council of Forty-Four
Council of Forty-four
The Council of Forty-four was one of the two central institutions of traditional Cheyenne Indian tribal governance, the other being the military societies such as the Dog Soldiers...
. He has been recognized by the Cheyenne People as an Outstanding Southern Cheyenne. He is the great grandson of scout, guide, interpreter and Sand Creek massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
survivor, Edmund Guerrier
Edmund Guerrier
Edmund Gasseau Choteau Le Guerrier , of French and Cheyenne parentage, was a survivor of the Sand Creek massacre in 1864. He was an interpreter for the U.S...
. He is the great great grandson of American frontiersman, William Bent
William Bent
William Wells Bent was a frontier trapper, trader, and rancher in the American West who mediated among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding United States. With his brothers, Bent established a trade business along the Santa Fe Trail. In the early 1830s Bent built an...
. Pratt lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
.
Forensic Art
Pratt began his career with Oklahoma's Midwest City Police Department in 1965, where, as a police officer, he completed his first composite drawing that resulted in an arrest and conviction. He joined the Oklahoma State Bureau of InvestigationOklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is an independent state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. The OSBI assists the city police departments of the state and is the primary investigative agency of the state government...
in 1972 as a narcotics investigator and retired in 1992 as an Assistant Director. He is now employed with the agency as a full time forensic specialist.
Pratt's forensic expertise has contributed to many high profile cases: The Green River Killer (Gary Ridgeway), Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders
Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders
The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders is an unresolved crime in rural Mayes County, Oklahoma. On a rainy, late-spring night in 1977, three girls—ages 8, 9, and 10—were raped and murdered and their bodies left in the woods near their tent at summer camp...
(Gene Leroy Hart), Henry Lee Lucas
Henry Lee Lucas
Henry Lee Lucas was an American criminal, convicted of murder in 189 cases and once listed as America's most prolific serial killer; he later recanted his confessions, despite professing information only the assailant would know and flatly stating "I'm a liar" in a letter to researcher Brad Shellady...
and Ottis Toole
Ottis Toole
Ottis Elwood Toole was an American serial killer, arsonist and cannibal. Toole was an accomplice of convicted serial killer Henry Lee Lucas...
, Bobby Joe Long, The I-5 Killer (Randall Woodfield), Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, Tommy Lynn Sells
Tommy Lynn Sells
-Early life:Sells and his twin sister, Tammy Jean, contracted meningitis when they were 18 months old. While Sells suffered a high fever, he survived. His sister, however, died from the inflammation. Shortly thereafter, Sells was sent to live with his aunt Bonnie Woodall in Holcomb, Missouri...
, World Trade Center 1993 bombings, Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women during the 1970s, and possibly earlier...
, Sirloin Stockade Murders (Roger Dale Stafford, Verna Stafford and Harold Stafford), Joe Fischer, Roger Wheeler murder, the Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States Federal Government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people, including 19 children...
, Donald Eugene Webb
Donald Eugene Webb
Donald Eugene Webb is an American career criminal and fugitive wanted for attempted burglary and the murder of police chief Gregory Adams in the small community of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania on December 4, 1980. It was the first murder in the town's history.- Background and family :Donald Eugene...
, Oklahoma State Fair Abducted Girls (Roy Russell Long), and Randolph Dial.
In the mid 1980s, Pratt developed the soft tissue postmortem drawing method. Using this method, the forensic artist draws or paints on the photograph of a victim to repair tissue damage or decomposition. The drawing repairs the trauma to the victim so that the final image will be more presentable when asking for law enforcement's or the public's assistance in identification.
Native American Art
Pratt encompasses painting, sculpting, wood carving, mural painting, bronze work, architectural design and graphic design. He is a self-taught artist and creates in the media of oil, acrylic, watercolor, metal, clay and wood. His artwork is a blend of his forensic art and law enforcement experience with traditional Native American environment.Pratt has received awards for his artwork at Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, Gallup, New Mexico
Gallup, New Mexico
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
, and Red Earth Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
. In 2005, he was given the title "Master Artist" by Red Earth, as well as being selected as the Red Earth 2005 Honored One.
His works are in many permanent collections, including the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the Sequoyah National Research Center, and the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. He accepted state appointments to the Oklahoma Arts Council by Governor Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
and Governor Brad Henry
Brad Henry
Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry was the 26th Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002...
.