Breakthrough DNA Testing IDs 9/11 Victim As New Jersey Man

After more than half a dozen futile attempts over the course of 17 years to identify a single bone found in the rubble of the World Trade Center, medical examiners finally had a breakthrough this week.

The remains of New Jersey's Scott Michael Johnson have been identified.
Photo Credit: *https://2015.911memorial.org/*

Cecilia Levine

07/25/2018 9:31 p.m.

Thanks to advances in DNA testing, the bone was linked to a 26-year-old financial worker from New Jersey who died in the 9/11 attacks, the New York Times reports.

Scott Michael Johnson of Montclair -- born in Glen Ridge -- worked on the 89th floor of the south tower and is the 1,642 person to be identified of the 2,753 killed in the attack, according to the story.

Johnson worked as a security analyst for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and is the first victim to be identified since August of last year, The Times reports.

A lifelong athlete, a hockey puck belonging to Johnson was donated to the 9/11 Memorial Museum by his family (above).

"While playing for his high school’s team in Montclair, New Jersey, he attracted his own fan club of followers," the plaque says.

"At one game, as Scott skated onto the ice to the sound of his friends chanting his name, a rival player knocked him into one of the rink walls, prompting the rest of the crowd to emit a startled 'Oh!' Thereafter, his friends assigned him the nickname Scott-O."

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