FILE - Mike Scott from the California Task Force-8 and his dog, Billy, search through rubble for victims of the September 11 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center September 21, 2001 New York City, NY. (Photo by Andrea Booher/FEMA/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - The remains of three Sept. 11 victims were identified more than 20 years after the tragedy, officials announced on Thursday.
Who were the victims?
New York City officials identified the remains of Ryan D. Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old currency trader; Barbara A. Keating, a 72-year-old retired nonprofit executive; and another woman whose name was not released at the request of her family.
What they're saying:
"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 statement. "We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost."
Barbara Keating
Keating was a passenger on the Boston-to-Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Flight 11 when hijackers flew it into the World Trade Center. She was on her way back home to Palm Springs, California, after spending the summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Ryan Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald was working at a financial firm at the trade center before the tragedy. He was working toward a master’s degree in business and was talking about a long-term future with his girlfriend.
Sept. 11, 2001
The backstory:
Nearly 24 years ago, al-Qaida hijacked an American Airlines flight and a United Airlines flight, crashing them both into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011.
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the trade center’s twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania on 9/11.
The vast majority of the victims, more than 2,700, perished at the trade center.
RELATED: September 11, 2001 timeline of attacks and events
Local perspective:
The New York medical examiner’s office has steadily added to the roster of those with identified remains, most recently last year.
The agency has tested and retested fragments as techniques advanced over the years and created new prospects for reading genetic code diminished by fire, sunlight, bacteria and more.
"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," New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Thursday.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from History.com, The Associated Press and previous reporting by FOX 5 New York.