Justice in DNA: New York identifies three more victims of 9/11 attacks almost 25 years on

Daily Mirror

5 days ago

Officials in New York named two of the victims as Ryan Fitzgerald, 26, of Floral Park, New York, and Barbara Keating, 72, of Palm Springs, California
Three more victims of the September 11 terror attacks have been identified through advanced DNA analysis, nearly a quarter of a century after the atrocity.
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Officials in New York named two of the victims as Ryan Fitzgerald, 26, of Floral Park, New York, and Barbara Keating, 72, of Palm Springs, California. The third, an adult woman, has been identified, but her family has requested that her name be withheld.
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The three new identifications bring the total number of confirmed victims to 1,653 out of the 2,753 people who were killed in New York in 2001. It means that more than half of those who perished in the collapse of the World Trade Centre remain unidentified.
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'The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11th terror attacks echoes across the decades, but with these three new identifications, we take a step forward in comforting the family members still aching from that day,' said New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
'As a former law enforcement officer who served our city on 9/11, I understand deeply the feeling of loss so many families have experienced. We hope the families receiving answers from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner can take solace in the city's tireless dedication to this mission.'
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Fitzgerald was working as a currency trader for Fiduciary Trust International in the south tower of the World Trade Centre. His mother, Diane Parks, said that her son had recently moved to the city. She learned after his death that he had been spending his money on clothes from Banana Republic and gifts for his girlfriend.
Ms Parks told the New York Times that Fitzgerald had spoken of attending a friend's bachelor party in Las Vegas. She had advised him against it at the time but later felt happy that he had gone. 'It made me feel good that he enjoyed the summer because it was the last summer of his life,' she said.
Keating, a grandmother and long-time public servant, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked after leaving Boston bound for Los Angeles and flown into the north tower. Her son, Paul Keating, described her in an obituary as 'smart, tough, professional and funny'.
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She spent more than 25 years in public service, much of it with the non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Middlesex, which is located outside Boston. Widowed for 20 years, she split her time between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and California, where she drove a red convertible and attended church daily.
Chief Medical Examiner Ryan Graham said: 'Nearly 25 years after the disaster at the World Trade Center, our commitment to identify the missing and return them to their loved ones stands as strong as ever. 'Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time. We continue this work as our way of honouring the lost.'
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The identification of victims has been a painstaking process, relying on advancements in DNA testing to work with remains that were severely damaged by the fires, collapse and recovery operations.
The task has been described by forensic teams as one of the most complex in history. Sharon Premoli, a survivor who escaped from the 80th floor of the north tower, said the work remained vital to those who have lived for decades without answers.
'While I did not lose a family member on 9/11, I know from having spoken to some who have yet to get a definitive identification, that to them, their loved one has disappeared,' she said.
'That disappearance has to exacerbate a grief that may never subside. Losing a child, a spouse or partner, or a sibling with no remains prevents any kind of closure.'