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A decades-old manhunt came to a dramatic conclusion thanks to artificial intelligence, as facial recognition technology helped UK authorities locate and arrest one of Britain’s most elusive fugitives. The case illustrates how AI tools are increasingly being adopted for advanced investigative work in law enforcement.
Richard Burrows, a convicted child sex offender who disappeared in 1997, was sentenced to 46 years in prison after being found guilty of 97 charges of child sexual abuse. His crimes, which date back to the 1960s through the 1990s, were committed while he held positions of trust as a boarding school housemaster and scout leader in England.
Despite extensive efforts by UK authorities, including assistance from Interpol and public appeals through Crimewatch, Burrows managed to evade capture for nearly three decades. The turning point came when detectives from Cheshire Police turned to facial recognition software to reignite the search.
According to the BBC Report, the breakthrough was made using PimEyes, a publicly available AI-powered facial recognition search engine. The platform allows users to upload a photograph and scan the web for matching images. When police uploaded an old photo of Burrows, the software identified several matches almost instantly, one of which led to recent photographs published in a local Phuket newspaper.
The suspect, living under the alias Peter Smith, had attended a retirement celebration in Thailand, and a distinguishing mark on his neck confirmed his identity. This discovery ultimately led to his arrest.
What sets this case apart is that the tool used was not developed for law enforcement, nor was it a government-exclusive system. PimEyes, originally created in Poland, is accessible to anyone online and was not built for criminal investigations. Yet, it achieved what traditional investigative tools had failed to do for 28 years.
The incident highlights the expanding role of AI and publicly available tech in solving complex cases, raising both possibilities and questions about the future of digital surveillance and ethical use of facial recognition. For now, it stands as a powerful example of how AI can assist in bringing fugitives to justice.