On Thursday, Aug. 7, New York City officials announced three victims who had been identified through advanced DNA testing. They are:
- Ryan Fitzgerald, 26, of Floral Park, who was working on the 94th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower when it was struck by United Airlines Flight 175
- Barbara Keating, 72, a cancer survivor from Palm Springs, California, who was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 when it struck the North Tower.
- An adult woman whose name will be withheld at her family's request
The identifications mark the 1,651st, 1,652nd, and 1,653rd victims of the 9/11 attacks to be confirmed through DNA analysis.
“The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11th terror attacks echoes across the decades, but with these three new identifications, we take a step forward in comforting the family members still aching from that day,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
Fitzgerald was a foreign currency trader for Fiduciary Trust International and had recently moved into his own apartment in Manhattan. He was working toward an MBA at Dowling College and had plans to marry his longtime girlfriend, Darci.
He loved the Yankees, the Dave Matthews Band, and summer weekends at the beach. Friends described him as easygoing, caring, and genuine.
Keating was known for her lifelong dedication to serving others. After surviving cancer twice, she spent her retirement years driving patients to medical appointments and volunteering daily at her church, where she worked as a receptionist. She was often seen cruising around town in a red convertible, top down.
NYC Chief Medical Examiner Jason Dr. Graham emphasized the city’s continued commitment to identifying all victims, saying, “Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time.”
In total, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, including 2,753 at the World Trade Center in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 40 aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back.
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