RivCo 9/11 Victim Identified More Than Two Decades After Attacks

PALM SPRINGS, CA — A 72-year-old Palm Springs woman aboard one of the airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, was identified through forensic evidence using advanced DNA verification methods, officials confirmed Thursday.

Barbara Keating was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, which authorities say slammed into the North Tower shortly before 9 a.m. within an hour of departing Boston, marking the start of airborne mayhem that fateful day.

According to the New York Post, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has continued investigations over the last 24 years to ascertain the identities of all those who perished, despite in many cases having only bare minimum trace evidence.

Keating, along with 26-year-old Ryan Fitzgerald of Floral Park, New York, were the latest casualties positively identified, bringing the total number of World Trade Center victims whose remains have been publicly confirmed to 1,653, officials said.

Keating's son, Paul, told a media outlet that his mother suffered many losses when she was killed, including "all the moments (she) could have had" with her grandchildren.

Flight 11 had been bound for Los Angeles International Airport. Three other airliners were lost that day following takeovers — United Airlines Flight 175. United Flight 93 and American Flight 77 -- according to federal investigators.

"As a former law enforcement officer who served our city on 9/11, I understand deeply the feeling of loss so many families have experienced," New York Mayor Eric Adams said. "We hope the families receiving answers from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner can take solace in the city's tireless dedication to this mission."

The Office of the Medical Examiner's pathologists have, over the last several years, relied on enhanced genetic sequencing of DNA recoveries to verify victims' identities, officials said.

"Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time," Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said in a public statement. "We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost."

Despite recent successes, he said around 1,100 victims, or 40% of those killed in New York City, remain unidentified.

—City News Service