This is the central logical gap in the alternative theory. All of the circumstantial discrepancies Nash identified — eye color, height, weight, the father’s reaction — are consistent with the identification being correct, for reasons documented above. The facial surgery altered Dillinger’s appearance. The gunshot wound damaged his face. Postmortem conditions affect various physical characteristics. The father may have been in shock or responding to altered appearance.
But the fingerprints are not affected by surgery, shock, the father’s psychological state, or the imprecision of postmortem physical measurements. If the ridge patterns from the body matched the known Dillinger record — and multiple lines of evidence, including the original FBI memo, the Cummins analysis, and the 2019 modern comparison, establish that they did — the body was Dillinger’s.
The persistence of the alternative theory despite this evidence reflects the cultural power of the Dillinger story more than the evidential strength of the theory. The idea that he outsmarted everyone and escaped is more satisfying to a certain kind of imagination than the mundane reality that he walked out of a movie theater, reached for his gun too late, and died in an alley.
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## The Death Masks and the Physical Record
Among the other forms of evidence taken from Dillinger’s body in the immediate aftermath of his death were death masks — casts made from his face that served as physical records of his features.
According to accounts of the death mask production, four molds were made. Harold May, who worked for Reliance Dental Supply in Chicago, was involved in producing at least one of the final casts. A cast was sent to J. Edgar Hoover, who reportedly kept it as a kind of trophy of the Bureau’s successful operation.