New York City officials have announced the identification of the remains of two new victims who were killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, just days before the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The identities of the man and woman, whose names are being withheld at the request of their families, were determined using advanced DNA technology, according to officials.
The positive identification comes after more than two decades of previous testing and negative results. Officials utilized next-generation sequencing technology, which is also employed by the military to identify missing service members. The man's remains were found in 2001, while the woman's remains were recovered in 2001, 2006, and 2013.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his condolences, stating, "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." He added, "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 identification of these two victims marks the first positive identifications since September 2021. It is estimated that approximately 40 percent of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, or 1,104 individuals, still remain unidentified.
Jason Graham, the city's chief medical examiner, emphasized the significance of these identifications, stating, "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." He further added, "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."
As the nation commemorates the 22nd anniversary of the attacks, various officials are participating in ceremonies across the country. President Biden will join service members in Anchorage, Alaska, Vice President Harris will attend the ceremony in New York, and First Lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is also expected to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.
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