The identification of the remains of the victims of September 11 still continues

[OyaYansa]

The nearly 22,000 human fragments found on the site since the attacks were already checked, some of them between 10 and 15 times

 

Seventeen years after the attacks that toppled the Twin Towers in New York, the remains of more than 1,100 victims still await identification. But in a laboratory in Manhattan, a team tirelessly pursues the task, with the help of the latest technological advances.

From Monday to Sunday, without breaks, the protocol is repeated dozens of times. A fragment of bone found at the site of the attacks of September 11, 2001 is cut, reduced to powder and then mixed with two chemicals that expose the DNA and then extract it.

Or at least this is the theory, but in practice success is not guaranteed. "Bone is the most difficult biological element to work with" to recover DNA, says Mark Desire, deputy director of forensic biology at the New York Forensic Institute.

To this natural complexity are added the conditions to which the fragment was exposed on September 11, 2001 and the following days. The fire, the humidity, the bacteria, the sunlight, the fuel of the planes that crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center, "all that destroys the DNA," according to Desire.

The nearly 22,000 human fragments found on the site since the attacks were already checked, some of them between 10 and 15 times. But about a thousand still resist identification. So far, 1,642 of the 2,753 people killed in the New York attacks were formally identified, and 1,111 remain missing.

Sometimes the laboratory spends years without being able to identify a fragment. But forensic investigators refuse to give up. "Our commitment is the same today as in 2001," says Desire. He does not want to talk about the investment required by the program, but it is the laboratory with the best resources and budget in North America.

Last July, about a year after the last identification, the lab managed to add a name to the list: Scott Michael Johnson, a 26-year-old financial analyst who worked on the 89th floor of the south tower. "When they told me I felt very happy," recalls Veronica Cano, a forensic expert at the laboratory. "We are trained to protect ourselves," he says, "but this affects us equally, because it affects everyone, in one way or another."

The laboratory only devotes a part of its time to the identification of human remains from September 11 and studies other cases of disappearances, but the issue occupies an important place in these premises located about two kilometers from the 'ground zero'.

The families of the disappeared visit them frequently. "It's hard not to get excited, with hugs and thanks," Cano acknowledges. The role of family members is essential at the technical level, because identification is only possible through comparison with a DNA sample provided by families.

The Forensic Institute has some 17,000 samples, but none for 100 victims that may never be identified.

A very precise procedure was devised to allow family members to decide if they will be informed of the identification of their missing loved one, and in what way. "When they announce it, they return you to that day, the horrible way in which they died," explains Mary Fetchet, founder of the association 'Voces del 11 de Septiembre', which lost her 24-year-old son, Brad, in the attacks. "But it also comforts you, because you can offer a true burial to those you love," he says.

Mark Desire is the only member of the initial team still in office. «This has marked my career», he assures. He does not show signs of fatigue, and his eyes light up when he mentions the technological novelties that he can still use to try to identify the remains.

In 2001, the head of the Forensic Institute, Charles Hirsch, understood that time would be an ally of identification, and ordered the conservation of all human spoils. Teams from all over the world, from Argentina to South Africa, arrive today in New York to learn from the team, which shares their knowledge without reservations.

When Desire receives the families, she talks to them about the future, and about what they are working on now that will allow them to do more identification. In 2001, the current experts in his laboratory "were probably in elementary school," he says with a smile. "But you know how important this task is."