---
title: "Cops Are Now Deepfaking Murder Victims To Catch Their Killers"
description: "Police are doing something that appears to never have been done before: deepfaking a murder victim to try and help bring his killer to justice."
date: "2022-05-27"
modified: "2022-05-27"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/deepfake-murder-victim"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "deepfake"
  - "police ai"
  - "the digest"
---

# Cops Are Now Deepfaking Murder Victims To Catch Their Killers

![Police are doing something that appears to never have been done before: deepfaking a murder victim to try and help bring his killer to justice.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/deepfake-murder-victim.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Politie Eenheid Rotterdam\</em\>*

## Cold Case

Detectives are trying something that appears to never have been done before: deepfaking a murder victim in a last-ditch attempt to bring his killer to justice.

As [*Euronews* reports](<https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/05/23/world-first-dutch-police-use-deepfake-video-in-appeal-over-boy-s-murder>), Dutch police are describing their use of "deepfake" technology in the cold case of Sedar Soares' 2003 murder a "world first."

The 13-year-old Soares was shot dead in a parking garage in Rotterdam nearly twenty years ago, in what appears to be a classic case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the report notes. His killers were never caught.

Now, Rotterdam police have published a video of the boy walking on a soccer pitch, surrounded by his friends and family and imploring the public to come forward with any information they may have about the unsolved homicide.

## Deeply Creepy

As with most deepfaked video, the movements of the reanimated boy are uncanny.

"Somebody must know who murdered my darling brother," a voiceover, presumably of or imitating one of Soares' sibling, says in translated Dutch. "That’s why he has been brought back to life for this film."

Lillian van Duijvenbode, a Rotterdam police spokesperson, [told the *Agence France-Press* ](<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/23/dutch-police-create-deepfake-video-of-murdered-boy-13-in-hope-of-new-leads>)that the cops "have already received dozens of tips" after releasing the video, though she admits that as of yet, they "haven’t yet checked if these leads are usable."

## Ethics Check

Though deepfakes can, in some occasions, be good — remember when memesters were using the tech to [insert Nicolas Cage into every movie](<https://mashable.com/article/nicolas-cage-face-swapping-deepfakes>)? — the ethical issues clearly shine through in this case.

"The potential benefits of deepfakes... are dwarfed by their potential harms," [Seattle University researchers wrote](<https://www.seattleu.edu/ethics-and-technology/viewpoints/deepfakes-and-the-value-neutrality-thesis.html>) in a 2020 paper. "Ultimately, deepfakes are about deceit. The goal of the effort is to create fantasies that cannot be distinguished from reality."

If this video leads to the catching of Soares' killer, it'll be incredible — but it's nevertheless a creepy thing for police to do, and [falls into an ethical grey area](<https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/the-threat-posed-by-deepfakes-to-marginalized-communities/>).

**READ MORE:** ['World first': Dutch police use 'deepfake' video in appeal over boy's murder](<https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/05/23/world-first-dutch-police-use-deepfake-video-in-appeal-over-boy-s-murder>) \[*Euronews*\]

**More on deepfakes:** *[Scientists Warn That New AI-Generated Faces Are Seen As More Trustworthy Than Real Ones](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-faces-trustworthy>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)