More 9/11 remains identified in DNA database

The massive DNA database compiled after the World Trade Center terror attacks has linked 261 more body parts to its existing profile of victims since February, officials with the New York Medical Examiners office said Wednesday.

The additional DNA findings didn't increase the number of victims of the 9/11 attacks whose remains have been identified because in some cases the remains were linked to those known to have perished, Borakove said.

Currently, 1,633 victims have been identified, mostly through DNA analysis. A total of 2,753 people died in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In some cases, families of the victims have asked to have the newly identified remains provided for burial or disposition, while others want the medical examiner to retain them for now, Borakove said.

The identifications are being made in the ongoing effort to use evolving DNA technology to link remains and, where possible, make an identification to a victim, Borakove said.

After the crash of the two jetliners into the Twin Towers and their resulting collapse, the recovery effort found 21,817 human remains.

Of those body parts, 13,162 have been identified, leaving 8,655 without any DNA matches, Borakove said.

One of the last identifications of a named victim occurred in August 2011, when DNA matches identified the remains of Ernest James, 40, of New York City, who worked for the insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan.

Monday 15 October 2012

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