Three more 9/11 victims identified 24 years later after DNA breakthrough
Thanks to a DNA testing breakthrough, the remains of Ryan Fitzgerald, Barbara Keating, and a third woman whose family asked to remain anonymous, have been identified.
The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 saw two planes deliberately crash into the Twin Towers, killing more than 2,700 people.
These latest victims are the 1,651st, 1,652nd and 1,653rd to be identified, after testing remains recovered in 2001 and 2002.
New York City mayor Eric Adams shared the news alongside the city's chief medical examiner, Jason Graham, who said the new identifications were thanks to continued advanced DNA testing.
The remains were able to be identified after family outreach provided DNA reference samples to compare with the genetic profiles of the previously unidentified remains.
The city medical examiner has been continually working to identify as many victims of the attack as possible, using new techniques including next generation sequencing.
Nearly 22,000 pieces of human remains, some as small as shards of bone the size of a fingernail, were recovered from the ground zero debris, NPR reports.
Having also suffered damage from fire, bacteria, pollution and other forms of degradation, DNA technology of the time was not able to uncover genetic profiles.
Mr Graham said: 'Nearly 25 years after the disaster at the World Trade Center our commitment to identify the missing and return them to their families strands 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.'
One of the newly-identified victims, 26-year-old Ryan Fitzgerald, was working as a foreign currency trader at Fiduciary Trust in the south tower on September 11, 2001.
He had called his family after the first plane hit the north tower to say he was OK and leaving his office.
Ryan grew up in Richmond Hill, Queens, and played basketball at Holy Cross High School.
He was living in Manhattan when he died. More Trending
Barbara Keating, another of the recently identified victims, was a 72-year-old grandmother from Palm Springs.
Barbara had worked as a public servant for 25 years and survived breast cancer twice, her obituary said.
She was known for visiting Saint Theresa Catholic Church every day, and would drive there and back in her red Sebring convertible.
Barbara was returning home to California after visiting family in Massachusetts.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Man 'raped mum friend because she wouldn't feed him her breast milk'
MORE: Fact Check: Will Trump make way for oldest frenemy Steve Bannon to run for president?
MORE: Two killed after helicopter crashes into boat on the Mississippi River
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
9/11 victims' fund architect slams changes to New Hampshire abuse settlement program
An attorney who helped design and implement the 9/11 victims' compensation fund says New Hampshire lawmakers have eroded the fairness of a settlement program for those who were abused at the state's youth detention center. Deborah Greenspan, who served as deputy special master of the fund created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, recently submitted an affidavit in a class-action lawsuit seeking to block changes to New Hampshire's out-of-court settlement fund for abuse victims. She's among those expected to testify Wednesday at a hearing on the state's request to dismiss the case and other matters. More than 1,300 people have sued the state since 2020 alleging that they were physically or sexually abused as children while in state custody, mostly at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. Most of them put their lawsuits on hold after lawmakers created a settlement fund in 2022 that was pitched as a 'victim-centered' and 'trauma-informed' alternative to litigation run by a neutral administrator appointed by the state Supreme Court. But the Republican-led Legislature changed that process through last-minute additions to the state budget Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed in June. The amended law gives the governor authority to hire and fire the fund's administrator and gives the attorney general — also a political appointee — veto power over settlement awards. That stands in stark contrast to other victim compensation funds, said Greenspan, who currently serves as a court-appointed special master for lawsuits related to lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan. She said it 'strains credulity' to believe that anyone would file a claim knowing that 'the persons ultimately deciding the claim were those responsible for the claimant's injuries.' 'Such a construct would go beyond the appearance of impropriety and create a clear conflict of interest, undermining the fairness and legitimacy of the settlement process," she wrote. Ayotte and Attorney General John Formella responded by asking a judge to bar Greenspan's testimony, saying she offered 'policy preferences masquerading as expert opinions' without explaining the principles beyond her conclusions. 'Her affidavit is instead a series of non sequiturs that move from her experience to her conclusions without any of the necessary connective tissue,' they wrote. The defendants argue that the law still requires the administrator to be 'an independent, neutral attorney' and point out that the same appointment process is used for the state's judges. They said giving the attorney general the authority to accept or reject settlements is necessary to give the public a voice and ensure that the responsibility for spending millions of dollars in public funds rests with the executive branch. As of June 30, nearly 2,000 people had filed claims with the settlement fund, which caps payouts at $2.5 million. A total of 386 had been settled, with an average award of $545,000. One of the claimants says he was awarded $1.5 million award in late July, but the state hasn't finalized it yet, leaving him worried that Formella will veto it. 'I feel like the state has tricked us,' he said in an interview this week. 'We've had the rug pulled right out from underneath us.' The Associated Press does not name those who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly. The claimant, now 39, said the two years he spent at the facility as a teenager were the hardest times of his life. 'I lost my childhood. I lost things that I can't get back,' he said. 'I was broken.' Though the settlement process was overwhelming and scary at times, the assistant administrator who heard his case was kind and understanding, he said. That meeting alone was enough to lift a huge burden, he said. 'I was treated with a lot of love,' he said. 'I felt really appreciated as a victim and like I was speaking to somebody who would listen and believe my story.' Separate from the fund, the state has settled two lawsuits by agreeing to pay victims $10 million and $4.5 million. Only one lawsuit has gone to trial, resulting in a $38 million verdict, though the state is trying to slash it to $475,000. The state has also brought criminal charges against former workers, with two convictions and two mistrials so far. The 39-year-old claimant who fears his award offer will be retracted said he doesn't know if he could face testifying at a public trial. 'It's basically allowing the same people who hurt us to hurt us all over again,' he said.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
British brain surgeon 'assaulted woman, posed with weapons and watched beheading video'
Brain Surgeon Dr. Sayed Talibi has been struck off after it was found proved that he has committed a myriad of offences, including assaulting and threatening a woman A British brain surgeon has been struck off the medical register after committing a spate of disturbing offences. Dr Sayed Talibi, 38, from Tamworth, worked at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust before his suspension. A medical tribunal found him guilty of misconduct spanning more than a decade. From posing with an arsenal of weapons in a series of photographs, downloading or viewing graphic images of Taliban beheadings, assaulting a woman, making racist comments, and committing fraud - the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found the brain surgeon had brought his profession "into disrepute" in many ways. Talibi admitted possessing photos of a waterboarding device, and it was found that he had downloaded or viewed sick images of civilians and Pakistani soldiers being beheaded by the Taliban. However, claims that he possessed "sensitive material" about the terrorists who conducted the 9/11 attacks were not proven. He also admitted uploading a photo of himself during a brain surgery to an online dating profile that included the patient's exposed brain - without their consent. Between 2007 and 2018, he was found to have posed with a litany of weapons in a series of chilling photographs, including a 'large quantity' of knives, firearms and an axe. The disgraced surgeon admitted posing with the weapons was "foolish" but that he believed "it was cool" at the time. He also claimed that his interest in weapons was linked to his time as an army cadet when he was a student. Talibi denied having "anti-Western sentiments" which the KC for the General Medical Council accused him of, calling himself a "British patriot". However, it was found proved that he had used racist language between January 2016 and August 2017, including that he used words to the effect of saying he "hated" non-muslims - for which he used a derogatory slur, "kuffar" - "and white people". The most serious claim levied against the surgeon was that he raped a woman three times, which he denied. The tribunal found that on one occasion, he had sex with the woman without her consent and without him having "reasonable belief" she was consenting. Talibi was also proven to have behaved in a threatening and abusive manner to the woman - referred to as Ms A to protect her anonymity - which included threatening to waterboard her. In 2016, when the woman accidentally touched Talibi's glasses in the stairwell of a university library, he punched the wall and shouted at her aggressively, the tribunal heard. Talibi also admitted to breaking a non-molestation order by contacting the woman via video call in 2018. The disgraced surgeon was also found to have defrauded EDF Energy over a £770.01 bill and to have stolen £23.50 worth of milk powder from his local Asda - something which he admitted saw him banned from all Asda supermarkets.
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Miracle as boy SURVIVES three days trapped at bottom of ravine after 240ft plunge
Dakota "Cody" Trenkle Jr had a skateboarding accident near his grandmother's home in Goose Creek Lake, Missouri, and became trapped down the ravine as a result A 13-year-old boy somehow survived for three days trapped down a huge ravine following a skateboarding accident. Rescue teams desperately searched for Dakota "Cody" Trenkle Jr after he became stuck down the 240ft ditch near his grandmother's home in Goose Creek Lake, Missouri. The teenager went without food or water for three days before a K-9 unit found him, and he was airlifted to hospital. As Dakota was put into medically induced coma, his mother Stephanie Neely maintained a bedside vigil for nearly two weeks and, against all odds, the youngster pulled through yesterday - and is set to be removed off his ventilator. Stephanie, 29, said: "Yesterday I felt like we were in a good place." Recalling the moment her sister found Dakota, an emotional Stephanie said: "I heard my sister go over the radio saying, 'We found him, we found him. He's alive.'... I broke down in the middle of the street, bawling hysterically, just trying to make my way down to where they had found him." Dakota, who survived dehydration during his ordeal, may soon be moved to a rehabilitation facility. He may require surgery but Stephanie, who has two other boys, says the picture looks far more hopeful than it did days ago. Her son, the eldest of her brood, was by chance shaded by a large bush in the ravine. Stephanie, who works in a prison, continued: "He ended up landing underneath some pretty thick brush, which helped shade him from the sun during the heat warning. "He was lying in five inches of water, which helped maintain his body temperature, and his body probably absorbed some of that water, even though he came in extremely dehydrated." READ MORE: Heartbreaking words boy, 6, told aunt after his siblings drowned during Spain holiday The teen spent 11 days in the medically induced coma before waking up this week. He can speak, but speech patterns are delayed due to brain injuries, and he's experiencing short-term memory loss. His mum added: "I believe that it's going to be a long road of recovery with therapies. "Even when he's done with inpatient, he's still going to have a lot of outpatient therapies with physical and occupational, but I believe at the end of that road, he can be mostly normal. We're just taking it day by day and hoping that he keeps making small progress in the right direction." The family, who are from Potosi, Missouri, are now crowdfunding to help support Dakota's recovery. To support the GoFundMe appeal, you can donate using this link.
