NEW YORK A few months ago, representatives from this medical examiner’s office contacted Paul Keating’s family to inform them that they thought a group of forensic scientists had made progress.
They discovered a DNA match between human remains and Keating’s mother, Barbara Keating, who perished on one of the passenger planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, while going through materials gathered during the September 11, 2001 terror attack.
The chief medical examiner’s office in New York City formally verified the identity on Thursday. Keating told NPR, “I think it’s stunning,” referring to the city’s attempts to assist families in finding closure. This is what they’re doing for us. They’re acting as though they’re under a trance.
Three more victims of the terror attacks that took place almost 24 years ago have been identified, according to the mayor’s office, utilizing family information and cutting-edge DNA analysis methods.
The names of Ryan Fitzgerald of Floral Park, New York, and Barbara Keating of Palm Springs, California, were made public. Another adult woman’s remains were also found, but her name is being kept secret at her family’s request.
NYC’s top medical examiner, Dr. Jason Graham, said in a statement that “nearly 25 years after the disaster at the World Trade Center, our commitment to identify the missing and return them to their loved ones stands as strong as ever.”
Al-Qaida terrorists took over commercial passenger planes on September 11, 2001, and used them to attack the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the World Trade Center twin buildings in Manhattan. Following an attempt by passengers and crew to take over the cockpit, a fourth aircraft, bound for Washington, D.C., crashed close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That day, around 3,000 people lost their lives.
The medical examiner’s office reports that 2,753 people were killed in the assaults in New York City. Since the revelation this week, 1,653 of those individuals have been identified.
“Despite the passing of time, every new identification bears witness to the promise of science and ongoing family outreach. In remembrance of the deceased, we carry on with this effort,” Graham stated.
When the attack happened, 26-year-old Fitzgerald was a trader employed by a company at the World Trade Center.Keating, 72, was on his way back to California from a trip to Massachusetts to see relatives.
Paul Keating remarked of the years following his mother’s death, “Not a day went by for years that [9/11] wasn’t part of our lives, we had no choice.” “Everyone in our family was impacted. Both of my sons were genuinely impacted. They were around seven and four years old. When they awaken one day, they discover that their grandmother has been murdered by criminals. My mother would never have approved of that for them.
After some of his mother’s belongings were found in the debris and wreckage left by the accident, Keating said that his mother’s remains were positively identified.
“They were sifting through all of it and they found a piece of my mom’s ATM card that was in her luggage and then it must have been seventeen years later they found part of her hair brush,” he explained.
“With these three new identifications, we take a step forward in comforting the family members still aching from that day,” said NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a veteran NYPD officer who was on duty on September 11, 2001. “The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11th terror attacks echoes across the decades.”
According to officials, DNA testing of remains collected in 2001 and 2002 verified the identities of Fitzgerald, Keating, and the unidentified woman. Approximately 40% of the dead have not yet been identified.
The chief medical examiner’s office released a statement stating, “OCME has identified 22 human remains associated with previously identified individuals in addition to the three new identifications this year.”
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