New York (WABC)—— Two more victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have been identified, city officials announced Friday.
The man and woman are the 1,648th and 1,649th people identified since September 2001, but they are the first victims identified since September 2021.
Their names are being withheld at the family’s request.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted advanced DNA testing on the remains found in the attack to correctly identify both victims.
The man’s identity was confirmed through DNA testing on the remains found in 2001. The woman’s identity was confirmed through DNA testing on remains found in 2001, 2006 and 2013.
OCME uses next-generation sequencing technology recently adopted by the U.S. military after nearly two decades of negative results. The technology used is more sensitive and faster than traditional DNA technology.
The announcement was attended by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham.
“Faced with the largest and most complex forensic investigation in our nation’s history, we are undaunted in our mission to leverage the latest scientific advances to deliver on this promise,” said Dr. Graham.
About 40 percent of the dead, about 1,104 people, remain unidentified.
“We hope these new identifications will bring a level of comfort to the families of the victims,” Mayor Adams said. “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s continued efforts are a testament to the City’s unwavering commitment to bringing all World Trade Center victims to justice.” Family reunion.”
In addition to the two new identifications, OCME identified 60 human remains related to previously identified victims.
In the aftermath of 9/11, OCME made a strong commitment to continue testing fragments of remains to identify as many victims as possible as DNA technology develops.
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