New York City forensic investigators have identified another victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks using investigative genetic genealogy for the first time in the identification effort, applying DNA-based techniques that were unavailable when the attacks occurred 25 years ago.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, New York City authorities have identified another person killed at the World Trade Center through a forensic genetic genealogy technique never before successfully used in the city’s long-running effort to identify the victims.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the New York Police Department’s Detective Bureau made the identification using investigative genetic genealogy, according to an ABC News report published Sunday.
The victim was an adult woman whose family chose not to publicly disclose her identity.
“The family of the newly identified victim, who was an adult female, declined to publicly come forward. She is the 1,654th to be formally identified,” ABC News reported.
The development leaves hundreds of victims still unidentified from the attacks on the World Trade Center, where the destruction and extreme conditions complicated traditional forensic identification efforts.
A video report on the identification detailed the use of the new methodology.
Dr. Jason Graham, New York City’s chief medical examiner, described the identification as a “breakthrough” in the decades-long forensic effort.
Graham told ABC he was “delighted to be able to say that we’ve now applied new methods to the World Trade Center identification efforts, and we have a new identification for the first time in 25 years using new methods, forensic investigative genetic genealogy.”
Investigative genetic genealogy combines DNA testing with traditional genealogical research to establish biological relationships and reconstruct family connections.
According to a Library of Congress research guide on genetic genealogy, “Genetic genealogy creates family history profiles (biological relationships between or among individuals) by using DNA test results in combination with traditional genealogical methods. By using genealogical DNA testing, genetic genealogy can determine the levels and types of biological relationships between or among individuals.”
The Library of Congress notes that the field has become increasingly accessible as DNA testing costs have fallen and molecular techniques once largely confined to specialized scientific research have become available to the public.
“This branch of genetics became popular in recent years, as costs were drastically reduced and genealogical studies using molecular techniques became accessible to the general public. Advantages of including DNA, as opposed to traditional genealogical research alone, include the ability for researchers to extend their ancestry beyond the paperwork of recent centuries, and to construct ancient pedigrees through molecular evolutionary studies,” the guide states.
That technology was not available to forensic investigators when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
The collapse of the towers created extraordinarily difficult conditions for victim identification. Forensic teams have continued examining recovered remains for decades, periodically revisiting evidence as DNA extraction and analysis techniques have improved.
The newest identification demonstrates how advances developed long after the attacks can be applied to evidence preserved from 2001.
Rather than relying solely on a direct DNA comparison with a close relative, investigative genetic genealogy can use genetic relationships among more distant relatives and conventional family-history research to narrow the identity of an unknown person.
The methodology has gained prominence in other areas of forensic investigation, including unidentified remains and long-unsolved criminal cases, but Graham said its successful application to the World Trade Center identification project represents a first.
The woman is now the 1,654th person killed in the attacks to receive a formal identification.
Her family’s decision to remain private means authorities have not released additional information about her identity or personal history.
For the medical examiner’s office, however, the case represents another step in an identification mission that has continued for a quarter-century, with evolving forensic technology providing new opportunities to identify victims whose remains could not previously be matched conclusively.
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