The man, whose name was withheld by officials at his family’s request, was the first Sept. 11 victim to be identified in more than two years.
The remains of a man who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have been positively identified, the New York City medical examiner’s office announced on Monday, amid continuing efforts to return victims’ remains to their loved ones.
The man, whose name was withheld by officials at his family’s request, was the first Sept. 11 victim to be identified in more than two years.
Recent improvements to how DNA is extracted and tested helped confirm the man’s identity late last month after years of negative results, the medical examiner’s office said Monday. He was the 1,641st person to be positively identified of the 2,753 people killed when the twin towers were destroyed.
Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city’s chief medical examiner, said forensic scientists had continued to test the remains as more advanced methods had become available. The vast majority of named victims were identified using DNA or a combination of techniques, according to city data. Positive identification of the remains, which are mostly bone fragments, allows victims’ families to finally claim what is left of their loved ones.
“This ongoing work is vital because with each new identification, we are able to bring answers to families affected by tremendous loss, ” Dr. Sampson said.
Technology adopted earlier this year in the medical examiner’s DNA laboratory helped to identify the man after previous tests had fallen short. The DNA lab added more sensitive technology that yielded more information, and optimized the lab’s advanced bone-extraction method, according to the medical examiner.
Many families are still waiting for closure. Among the victims, 1,112 have not been positively identified, although the city has issued death certificates for all but three of the victims, whose certificates were issued by other jurisdictions.
The unclaimed remains were moved in 2014 to a bedrock repository 70 feet underground at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The repository is not open to the public, although it is adjacent to a reflecting room for victims’ families.
The man was the first victim of the attack to be identified since March 2015, when officials confirmed the remains of Matthew David Yarnell .
Mr. Yarnell, 26, was a vice president and programmer analyst in technology at Fiduciary Trust Company International. He worked on the 97th floor of the south tower and was one of 97 employees of the firm and its parent company, Franklin Templeton Investments, who were killed in the attacks.
