2016/09/13

New York Daily News September 12, 2016: Fifteen years after 9/11, NYC Medical Examiner still works to identify victims, bring families closure

Fifteen years after the Twin Towers collapsed into a twisted heap of rubble, about 40% of those killed in the terror attacks remain unidentified.

But the push to return remains to heartbroken families has helped countless others find closure, officials said.

The city Medical Examiner’s Office’s continued efforts to identify the remains of 9/11 victims has advanced the science behind DNA testing — and created techniques that have helped cops across the country identify human remains, according to Mark Desire, Assistant Director of the city Medical Examiner’s Department of Forensic Biology.

“We have been able to apply our techniques to cases around the world and help make identifications in everything from mass fatalities to missing person cases,” Desire said. “We’ve provided other agencies our techniques and they have able to use them to generate a DNA profile.”

For the past 15 years, the Medical Examiner’s office has tested and retested the 21,905 human samples recovered at Ground Zero. They have been able to identify 14,320 fragments of bone and teeth — two of the hardest materials to identify, Desire said. more