New York medical officials have identified two individuals killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks nearly 22 years later.
Officials announced Friday that the remains of man and woman- whose names are being withheld by request of family members- were identified using advanced DNA technology also used to identify missing servicemembers.
“As we prepare to mark the anniversary of September 11, our thoughts turn to those we lost on that terrible morning and their families who continue to live every day with the pain of missing loved ones,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said in a statement Friday.
“We hope these new identifications can bring some measure of comfort to the families of these victims, and the ongoing efforts by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner [OCME] attest to the city's unwavering commitment to reunite all the World Trade Center victims with their loved ones.”
The man was identified using remains found in 2001, while the woman was identified using remains recovered from 2001, 2006 and 2013, according to the city. The two new identifications mark the first identifications since September 2021.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed as hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pa., 22 years ago. New York City officials noted that about 40 percent of those killed — 1,104 people — remain unidentified.
“More than 20 years after the disaster, these two new identifications continue to fulfill a solemn pledge that OCME made to return the remains of World Trade Center victims to their loved ones,” said Jason Graham, the city's chief medical examiner. “Faced with the largest and most complex forensic investigation in the history of our country, we stand undaunted in our mission to use the latest advances in science to serve this promise.”
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