September 11th, 2001

It is hard to imagine that almost two decades ago, we saw the worst and most violent acts ever committed upon U.S. soil while at the same time witnessed the tireless and heroic efforts of our firefighters and law enforcement.

The result of the catastrophic event was chaos at the site and throughout the entire City. As time passed a list was prepared of those individuals that were reported missing. Nothing in the history of mass fatality events prepared America’s forensic community for the task of identifying those who died when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. The number of
victims, the condition of their remains, and the duration of the recovery effort made their identification the greatest forensic challenge ever undertaken in this country.

Almost 20 years later, according to the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner, of the 2753 people who died in the attacks only 1632 or 59 percent have been identified leaving approximately 1121 individuals still Missing.