Content warning: This story contains mentions of rape.
Retired Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson holds the Guinness World Record for most criminals positively identified due to the composites from one artist — 1,313. Holding it since 2004, the UT alumna’s record was confirmed again in 2024, and she said she believes it will stay that way.
“Nobody’s gonna beat me in my lifetime,” Gibson said. “There’s almost nobody doing forensic art in the whole freaking world. … There’s only one or two others like me; one in Austin, one in Georgia.”
The Daily Texan sat down with Gibson following the 20-year mark of her record to discuss her career.
The Daily Texan: Tell me about your time at UT.
Lois Gibson: Well, it was my (fifth) college. I went to Kansas, (Kansas) Wesleyan, Wichita State University and University of Texas in Arlington. I was a dancer on TV and a model, and I picked out Texas on a map with my eyes closed and just moved there because I thought I just wanted to get (out of) LA. It was awful.
By the time I changed my major to art (at) UT Austin, all I had to do was take art classes, which is like getting to eat candy or pie for every meal. I just had art classes, and I worked my way all the way through college, waiting tables. It took eight years to get the degree.
DT: What made you get into criminal sketch work?
LG: Before I went to UT Austin, I was in Los Angeles (as) a dancer on TV and a model, and (someone) got into my apartment and almost killed me.
I had already decided to move out of LA before (the incident). So I definitely moved out. Went to all those different colleges and ended up at UT Austin, got the degree, (but) the biggest education (was) the riverwalk in San Antonio. I did tourist portraits. I was making $2,000 to $3,000 in today’s dollars a night, a day. So I was drawing tourists, but they were realistic and they looked good. I did about 3,000 people.
Once I was in Houston … I (could) draw portraits with my left hand in my sleep, and (the news) talked about a guy raping a dance instructor … I started crying because I was reliving my attack. But when I thought about that woman … and then I thought I could have a chance to catch somebody like that, well, I broke down.
I started doing (sketches) in ‘82, the first murder I worked. You know, homicide didn’t know what to think of me. I’ve got this personality. It wasn’t good. But I didn’t care. I would take it because I knew what it felt like to (almost) be killed. And if I could stop guys that did that, I would just do anything.
DT: Can you tell me about winning the world record?
LG: The reason I wanted to get the record (was so) other artists would start counting their successes. … I’m hoping there’ll be a renaissance of forensic artists because I could teach people how to do it … I’ve started a certification … I’ll give them exercises. They can email the results back to me, and I’ll be able to tell them in one-fourth of a second if they can do it. I’ve started the careers of artists in France, Israel, Portugal, UK, Brazil, Canada, Mexico.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included an incorrect school name and count. This has been corrected. The Texan regrets this error.