Forensic scientists in New York City have identified three additional victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, thanks to adva ncements in DNA testing.
The recent identifications bring the total number of victims positively identified to 1,653 out of the 2,753 who died when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked commercial planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York.
On Thursday, authorities announced the names of two of the victims, Ryan Fitzgerald and Barbara Keating, and confirmed the identification of a third adult woman whose identity was withheld at the request of her family, per the Guardian.
These developments come nearly 24 years after the tragic attacks.
Barbara Keating, who was 72 years old at the time of the attacks, was aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Keating was returning home to Palm Springs, California, after a late summer break.
A retired disability advocate and a beloved member of her church community, Keating’s death had devastated her friends and family, particularly her close friend Mary Arthen, who worked with her at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus church in Palm Springs.
Arthen expressed her mixed emotions upon hearing the news of Keating’s identification: “It brought everything back again from 24 years ago. It was kind of shocking to me that it took so long to identify her. In my head, she passed that day. It was just a devastating time for our church, so many people knew her,” Arthen recalled.
“She really was this very sweet, kind, quiet lady. She left a big hole in our church community.”
Keating’s son, Paul Keating, expressed gratitude to the medical examiner’s office, acknowledging the extraordinary efforts that led to his mother’s identification, per the New York Post.
“We’re talking about moving six blocks of Manhattan to Staten Island and going through it milligram by milligram for 24 years. I mean, isn’t that amazing to you? No one’s ever done something like that for me, my family ever, and I couldn’t thank them enough,” Paul said.
The second identified victim, Ryan Fitzgerald, was a 26-year-old foreign currency trader who was working on the 94th floor of the South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175, also hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the building.
Fitzgerald had called his family shortly after the first plane struck the North Tower, telling them he was about to leave his office. Tragically, his call would be the last communication with his loved ones.
Fitzgerald’s remains were recovered in 2002, a year after the attacks, and were positively identified after years of retesting as DNA technology evolved.
His family had long hoped for closure, and Fitzgerald’s mother, Diane Parks, recalled that her son had spent his last summer enjoying life in Las Vegas and preparing gifts for his girlfriend.
“It made me feel good that he enjoyed the summer because it was the last summer of his life,” she told The New York Times shortly after his death.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham commented on the advancements in forensic technology that have enabled these recent identifications, per Sky News.
“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 honoring the lost,” Graham said.
DNA testing techniques have improved significantly over the past two decades, allowing forensic scientists to extract DNA from bone fragments that were previously too degraded to be analyzed.
This progress, along with continued outreach to victims’ families, has been instrumental in the ongoing effort to identify those still missing.
In fact, the remains of Keating and the unnamed woman were recovered in 2001, and Fitzgerald’s remains were found in 2002.
However, DNA testing and the painstaking process of matching DNA samples from family members were necessary to confirm their identities. For instance, Paul Keating provided DNA samples along with his siblings, which helped match the remains to their mother.
“There’s a depository of 22,000 body parts retrieved from the rubble, with 1,100 victims still to be identified,” said Dr. Graham. Despite these challenges, the medical examiner’s office continues its efforts to bring closure to the families of the victims.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed the city’s dedication to identifying every victim of the 9/11 attacks, saying: “The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11 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.”
As of now, around 1,100 victims, nearly 40% of those who died in the attacks, remain unidentified.
However, the city’s commitment to providing answers to these families is unwavering, with efforts to identify the missing continuing through the work of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.