New York identifies 9/11 victim using genetic genealogy

New York authorities announced on Monday that they had identified a victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States using an innovative forensic technique that has helped investigators solve several high-profile cases in recent years, EFE reported, CE Report quotes MOLDPRES.

The individual is the 1,654th victim to be identified through the analysis of remains, but the first to be identified using Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), as a result of cooperation between the Office of Chief Medical Examiner and the Police Department, according to a statement.

The adult woman, whose family requested that her name not be made public, died in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, which claimed the lives of 2,753 people. Of those victims, 1,099, or 40%, remain unidentified.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani stressed that local authorities remain committed “to the families who have spent 25 years waiting for answers” about loved ones killed in the attacks and welcomed the use of “cutting-edge technology” for this purpose.

New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner Jason Graham said FIGG is now part of his office’s investigative toolkit and added that, together with the police department’s genetic genealogy team, authorities are “identifying leads that otherwise would not have been possible.”

According to the statement, FIGG is a modern investigative method that combines DNA from a crime scene with public genealogy databases to identify unknown suspects or victims.

The same technique has helped investigators solve several criminal cases in recent years, including the identification and arrest in 2018 of the man known as the “Golden State Killer,” who was responsible for 13 murders and 45 rapes.

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