Evolving DNA technology keeps making gradual gains in the nearly quarter-century-long effort to return the remains of the dead to their loved ones.
NEW YORK — This week, officials have identified the remains of three 9/11 victims, marking progress in the ongoing nearly 25-year endeavor to reunite the deceased with their families, thanks to advancing DNA technology.
New York City authorities revealed on Thursday the identification of Ryan D. Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old currency trader, Barbara A. Keating, a 72-year-old retired executive of a nonprofit, and another female whose identity remains private per her family’s wish.
The matches were achieved through enhanced DNA analysis of small remains discovered over two decades ago in the ruins of the World Trade Center, following the al-Qaida hijacked plane attacks on September 11, 2001, as reported by the city’s medical examiner’s office.
“Every new identification highlights the potential of science and our unwavering commitment to families despite the years passing by,” stated chief medical examiner Dr. Jason Graham. “We proceed with this work as a tribute to those lost.”
Keating’s son, Paul Keating, told media outlets he was amazed and impressed by the enduring endeavor.
“It’s truly an incredible achievement and gesture,” he mentioned to the New York Post. He noted that his mother’s hairbrush’s genetic material was matched with DNA samples from family members. The only other trace of his mother recovered from the wreckage was a fragment of her ATM card, he added.
Barbara Keating was on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles when hijackers crashed it into the World Trade Center. She was returning to Palm Springs, California, after spending the summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Keating had spent her career in social services, including a time as executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Middlesex, near Boston. In retirement, she was involved in her Roman Catholic church in Palm Springs.
The Associated Press sent messages Friday to her family and left messages at possible numbers for Fitzgerald’s relatives.
Fitzgerald, who lived in Manhattan, was working at a financial firm at the trade center, studying for a master’s degree in business and talking about a long-term future with his girlfriend, according to obituaries published at the time.
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the trade center’s twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania on 9/11. The vast majority of the victims, more than 2,700, perished at the trade center.
Keating’s and Fitzgerald’s names are already inscribed on the monument to the victims at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York City.
The New York medical examiner’s office has steadily added to the roster of those with identified remains, most recently last year. The agency has tested and retested fragments as techniques advanced over the years and created new prospects for reading genetic code diminished by fire, sunlight, bacteria and more.
“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,” New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday.
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