Sketch artist Lois Gibson came to forensic work the hard way. When she was 21, a man forced himself into her apartment and raped her.

Though Lois never reported her attack, she never forgot how it felt to be the victim of a violent crime. Blessed with artistic skill, she landed a job with the Houston Police Department as a forensic sketch artist, turning descriptions from terrified victims into incredibly accurate pictures of murderers and rapists.

In 1987, Lois was faced with her biggest challenge yet; in her family’s hometown of Wichita, Kansas, two serial rapists were attacking women. The police had no leads, and only vague descriptions of the men.

Drawing from her own experience, Lois was able to talk to the women and produce a series of amazingly life-like sketches. They were soon posted all over the region. Two weeks later a Wichita businessman on a trip to Tulsa saw the sketches in a newspaper. Convinced he had spotted the men, he called the Wichita police. Thanks to Lois’ sketches, the men were apprehended and eventually convicted and sentenced to death.