Second 9/11 victim identified through genetic genealogy, medical examiner says

New York City's medical examiner has identified a second victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center using forensic investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that pairs DNA testing with family-tree research, ABC7 reported Wednesday.

The victim is an adult woman. Her name has not been released at her family's request, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner said, according to ABC7 and the New York Post. The identification brings the number of formally identified victims to 1,655 of the 2,753 people killed in New York City, ABC7 reported.

How the technique works

The method, known as FIGG, compares a victim's genetic profile with publicly available ancestry databases, the Post reported. The research is done by the NYPD's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Squad, which reconstructs family lines to produce identification leads; OCME then confirms them through DNA or other forensic methods, according to an August announcement from the Mayor's Office. The technique has helped police solve long-unidentified cold cases, ABC7 noted.

The first 9/11 identification using the method, also an adult woman, was announced Aug. 24. At the time, she was the 1,654th victim identified and the first new World Trade Center identification since August 2025, the Mayor's Office said.

The work ahead

About 40% of the victims — roughly 1,098 people — have still not been identified nearly 25 years later. Harsh conditions at ground zero have made extracting usable DNA from remains notoriously difficult, the Post reported. The medical examiner's office has collected 47 new genetic samples that can undergo genealogical review, the Post said, citing Newsday.

OCME also continues to link additional remains to victims who were already identified so they can be returned to families, the Mayor's Office said in August. "We will continue to work until every possible answer is found," Mayor Zohran Mamdani said then.