This is one outlet's own report from Newsweek — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
9/11 Victim Identified 25 Years After Attacks Using Family DNA: Here's How
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A victim of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been identified nearly 25 years after her death using a cutting-edge forensic technique that combines DNA analysis with genealogical research.
The woman, whose family declined to publicly share her name, became the first 9/11 victim identified through forensic investigative genetic genealogy, according to New York City officials, marking a major breakthrough in the decades-long effort to identify those killed at the World Trade Center. Officials say the new approach, which combines using family tree research and DNA testing , could help identify additional victims.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek , Julie Bolcer, deputy commissioner of public affairs and communications for New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner, said the newly announced identification represents the 1,654th victim of the World Trade Center attacks to be identified.
"Some 1,099 victims, 40 percent of those who died, remain unidentified," Bolcer said, saying that more information about the identification and further forensic work on 9/11 cases would be released at a later time.
Experts in forensic genetic genealogy say the implications extend well beyond 9/11. David Mittelman, chief executive officer of forensic technology company Othram, told Newsweek there are likely between 50,000 and 75,000 unidentified human remains cases across the United States.
Mittelman said many of those cases could potentially be solved using the same techniques now being applied to World Trade Center remains.
"If we prioritized this work and resourced it properly, we wouldn't have all of these unidentified remains. It would be a very solvable problem," he said.
Mittelman told Newsweek he doesn't know if Othram is responsible for the latest identification but noted that they often work with the New York City Police Department and have solved at least 20 cases within the state. Bolcer did not respond when asked if Othram contributed to this case.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001, when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Although thousands of human remains were recovered from Ground Zero, the severe damage caused by the collapse of the towers made the identification process extraordinarily difficult. New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has continued testing remains as DNA technology has improved over the years.
Despite nearly 25 years having passed, the city's medical examiner has repeatedly pledged to continue the effort indefinitely.
There may still be additional opportunities for identifications. ABC News reported that forensic experts are currently examining dozens of DNA profiles that could be suitable for genetic genealogy analysis.
Forensic investigative genetic genealogy begins with physical remains, which may consist of skeletal fragments or previously extracted DNA samples. Scientists first recover DNA from the remains, a step that can be especially challenging when evidence has been exposed to explosions, intense heat or environmental degradation like that seen in 9/11.
"We start with some kind of physical evidence," Mittelman said. "The first step is taking the physical evidence and getting some DNA extracted from it."
Once DNA has been recovered, scientists sequence it and convert the biological material into a digital DNA profile. That profile can then be compared against other genetic profiles in databases where users have voluntarily opted in to allow law enforcement and forensic investigations.
Those databases can reveal distant relatives of the unidentified individual.
"You may end up with any number of distant relatives that are genetic relatives," Mittelman said.
Researchers then construct family trees using public records and information from multiple related individuals. By finding where those family lines intersect, investigators can narrow an unknown person's identity from millions of possibilities to a single family or small group of individuals.
"You generate at the end of this essentially a hypothesis or some set of leads," Mittelman said. "We've now narrowed the possibilities."
The final determination is made only after additional investigation and confirmatory DNA testing. A medical examiner reviews all of the evidence before formally certifying the identification.
Mittelman described the process as highly effective and increasingly affordable, estimating that a typical genetic genealogy case costs around $10,000, though costs vary depending on the condition of the evidence and complexity of the investigation.
The same investigative approach has been used in high-profile criminal cases, including identifying suspects through family-tree analysis and helping solve decades-old cold cases.
Mittelman said Othram has worked on thousands of forensic genealogy cases in the United States and internationally, with at least 20 solved in New York State alone. The company maintains a public tracker of hundreds of solved cases and has launched a video series documenting families who have received long-awaited answers through the technology.
"The bottleneck isn't technology," Mittelman said. "The bottleneck is just literally the desire to go do it."
For families of 9/11 victims who remain unidentified, the latest breakthrough offers hope that advances in DNA science may continue to provide answers, even a quarter-century after the attacks.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Sam Wilson .
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.
