Days away from the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the New York City chief medical examiner identified two more victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson said in a statement Tuesday Dorothy Morgan and a man whose identity is being withheld at the request of his family are the 1,646th and 1,647th confirmed deaths from the 9/11 terror attacks.
The two deaths were confirmed from DNA analyses of remains recovered from the site. Morgan’s DNA came from remains recovered in 2001, while the unidentified man’s DNA was confirmed from remains found in 2001, 2002 and 2006.
The New York Times reported that Morgan worked for an insurance company on the 94th floor of the North Tower, the first building hit in the attack.
Morgan and the unnamed man’s confirmed deaths are the first victims since Oct. 2019 to be identified in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks that claimed 2,753 lives. However, around 1,106 people, or 40% of victims, have yet to be identified.
“Twenty years ago, we made a promise to the families of World Trade Center victims to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to identify their loved ones, and with these two new identifications, we continue to fulfill that sacred obligation,” Sampson said. “No matter how much time passes since September 11, 2001, we will never forget, and we pledge to use all the tools at our disposal to make sure all those who were lost can be reunited with their families.”
The medical examiner’s office hopes new DNA technology developed by the U.S. military will result in more identities being found.
Mark Desire, assistant director of the office’s Department of Forensic Biology and manager of the World Trade Center DNA Identification Team, said the new technology is being done “out of necessity to make more identifications.”
“The commitment today is as strong as it was in 2001,” he said.
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