NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2006
Three More 9/11 Victims ID'd
NYC To Hire More Forensic Experts To Find Remains At Ground Zero
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The South Tower collapses as smoke billows from both towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. On Nov. 2, 2006, the office of New York City's medical examiner said the remains of three more victims had been identified. (AP)
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Remains of a third victim also have been identified, but his family asked that his name not be released, the city's medical examiner's office announced Wednesday.
The newly identified remains had been held by the medical examiner's office for years, but even now, human bones are still being found at the site as construction begins at ground zero on the planned Freedom Tower.
New York City announced Wednesday that it plans to hire up to 10 more forensic anthropologists to join the effort to find and identify additional human remains, a project that could stretch well into next year, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler said.
"We will make sure we have the appropriate resources to do this job," said Skyler, who is overseeing the recovery. "The mayor's orders were very clear: 'Do what needs to be done."'
Some victims' families say it still is not enough.
They planned to rally at the site Thursday afternoon to call for federal intervention and an expanded search for remains at the site. The families of about 40 percent of the more than 2,700 voters killed in the attack have yet to receive any remains identified by DNA.
"Hiring extra anthropologists is a recognition that they realize the job they have to do," said Charles Wolf, whose wife was killed on Sept. 11. "But doing the job and doing it right are two different matters. How are you going to manage this?"
The current search was prompted by the discovery last month of hundreds of pieces of human bone in an abandoned manhole near ground zero.
Some 200 pieces of bone and other remains have been found since the accidental discovery by utility workers doing routine work along the western edge of the lower Manhattan site.
Officials have said the manhole had been paved over and forgotten when a service road was built there in the midst of excavating the Twin Towers' rubble.
After the discovery, city officials identified about 10 more manholes and pockets under the road and ordered them to be excavated immediately and sifted for remains.
The work involves tearing up parts of side streets, exploring the rooftops of selected buildings near the 16-acre site and excavating more manholes beyond the dozen the city is already exploring.
The newly identified remains belong to flight attendant Karen Martin of Danvers, Mass.; Douglas Stone of Dover, N.H., and a man whose family asked that his name not be released, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.
The identifications were made after the families submitted additional DNA samples to the medical examiner's lab, Borakove said. She declined to comment further on their cases. The medical examiner has occasionally requested additional DNA while trying to identify the remains of the 2,749 victims.
Since the bones were found last month, some families have pushed for the city to bring in the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a military forensic unit that specializes in finding soldiers who went missing long ago.
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Re-open the 911 investigation.
God Bless the families. They deserve SO much more than has been done for them to bring closure.
Posted by jdplat
Yes, jdplat, we are indeed still looking for MIAs from prior wars. In fact, the forensic teams are finding them frequently. Most notably, they recently found the site of the famed pilot from WWII "Buster" Crabb. I fully believe it IS worth looking for these people. What would you want if it were your family member missing?