Investigators have identified a second victim of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack using advanced investigative genetic genealogy, New York City officials announced Wednesday.
The victim, a woman who was killed when the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, will not be publicly named at her family’s request, the city medical examiner’s office told Newsday.
The discovery marks the second successful Identification by the ME’s office of a World Trade Center victim through the emerging technique — following an initial breakthrough in August.
The cutting-edge technology, known as IGG, compares a victim’s genetic profile with publicly available ancestry databases.
The NYPD conducts the research through its specialized genetic genealogy squad, which analyzes the data to reconstruct family lineages.
Harsh conditions at Ground Zero — where 2,753 lives were lost in the terror attacks and 1,098 victims still remain unidentified — have made extracting viable DNA notoriously difficult.
However, the ME’s office has collected 47 new genetic samples capable of undergoing genealogical review, offering renewed hope to families still waiting for closure 25 years later.