ع
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner in collaboration with the NYPD announced the identification of an adult woman as the 1,654th victim from the World Trade Center attacks using forensic investigative genetic genealogy for the first time. This breakthrough combines DNA analysis with family tree research from public ancestry databases to generate leads later confirmed through forensic testing according to a statement from Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani’s office. Some 47 sets of remains without matching family DNA samples have been flagged as candidates for the technique a Newsday assessment found while the office continues retesting thousands of fragments recovered from the site.
The attacks killed 2,753 people in New York with about 40 percent of victims still unidentified the medical examiner’s office data shows. Three additional victims including currency trader Ryan D. Fitzgerald and retired executive Barbara A. Keating were identified in August 2025 through improved DNA testing an AP News report detailed. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham stated that each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time.
One family member of a victim whose remains were never found told the BBC “We never recovered him” as the quest to identify remains from Ground Zero continues. Retired FDNY Lt. Jim McCaffrey speaking about firefighter Michael Palmer whose traces have never been located despite submitted DNA samples said nothing at all was recovered according to Newsday. Such accounts reflect the ongoing grief for those without physical closure even as technology progresses.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner has maintained a repository of more than 22,000 human remains fragments many no larger than a pea that were recovered from the rubble rooftops and manholes in the years following the attacks a CBS New York review indicated. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Jennifer Odien explained that the agency employs advanced methods including next-generation sequencing to extract usable genetic material from samples degraded by fire and environmental factors. Officials renewed outreach to families for additional reference samples which aided the latest matches the medical examiner’s office reported.
Dr. Graham described the genetic genealogy approach as a promising new addition to the identification toolkit in an announcement distributed by the mayor’s office. The effort which began in 2001 has seen periodic progress with two victims named in 2021 after a gap of years a New York Times account noted. Newsweek reported that experts believe the method could resolve dozens more cases where traditional DNA matching has failed.
The administration pledged to persist with the work using every available scientific tool in the coming months and years the mayor’s office stated. This includes continued testing of fragments stored with dignity at the medical examiner’s facility according to agency updates. The latest identification marks the first since those announced in 2025 and arrives as the 25th anniversary of the attacks approaches.
