Forensic facial reconstructions

Forensic facial reconstructions receive a lot of attention (e.g., the digital facial superimposition presented in the recent Casey Anthony trial, the popular “forensic artist” characters on modern forensic television programs).  But how much of facial reconstruction is art, and how much is really science?

Please discuss your opinions of the utility of facial reconstructions and other forensic art.  Are they art? Or science? Does it matter? How accurate are digital vs. physical reconstructions? Even if a reconstruction is inaccurate, can it help to draw attention to, or identify a missing individual? How? What about the future of forensic art – what would happen if the reconstruction technologies imagined in forensic television programs were real?