[1] He primarily worked in clay and then cast his pieces into plaster and painted them, but he also created age-progression drawings of fugitives using pastels.
His most famous facial reconstruction case was that of murderer John Emil List, who, after decades as a fugitive under a false identity, was captured a few days after Bender's bust of him was featured on America's Most Wanted.
[5] Bender was one of the founding members of the Vidocq Society, along with William Fleisher and Richard Walter.
[7] In 2009,[8] Bender was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs and is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos.
[10] On May 13, 2008, Random House published The Girl With the Crooked Nose by Ted Botha, a book on Bender's life story intertwined with his most challenging case: the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez.