DNA genealogy identifies another 9/11 victim in New York

A family has received an answer nearly 25 years after the World Trade Center attacks. The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the NYPD Detective Bureau have identified an adult woman using genetic genealogy, the first time the method has been used in New York City's 9/11 identification effort. Her family has chosen not to disclose her identity publicly.

The woman is the 1,651st World Trade Center victim to be formally identified. Nearly 1,100 victims remain unidentified after an investigation that has repeatedly returned to old evidence as DNA analysis and forensic methods improved.

Genetic genealogy combines DNA testing with family-tree research. Investigators use a DNA profile from unidentified remains to look for potential relatives, then work through family connections to establish an identification. New York Chief Medical Examiner Jason Graham said the technique was unavailable when the World Trade Center identification effort began; NYPD Detective Gregory Paduano put it more simply: “The technology really wasn’t there.”

The next step is already underway. The medical examiner's office and the NYPD are examining 47 profiles that could be suitable for genetic genealogy. Forensic anthropologist Jennifer Odien said the early results are promising, while warning that not every case can go through the process and that the profiles represent only a fraction of the unidentified victims whose remains have been examined.

And so what, concretely? One family now has formal confirmation, and investigators have a new route for cases that did not match existing reference samples. The approach could produce further identifications, but the 47 profiles are still under review, and nearly 1,100 victims remain unidentified.