The son of a woman whose remains were identified more than two decades after the 9/11 attacks, has said his family have finally “received closure”, despite thinking the day would never come.
Barbara Keating, 72, was on board American Airlines Flight 11, when it was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower on September 11, 2001.
The attacks on the US that day killed nearly 3,000 people and marked the start of a new era of fear, war, politics, patriotism and tragedy.
Thursday was the 24th anniversary of those attacks.
Until August this year, Barbara was among the 1,100 victims whose remains had yet to be identified.
However, with advancements in DNA technology, the Keating family received news they never expected: Barbara’s remains had been positively identified through DNA analysis.
In an announcement that followed that call, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that they have identified the remains of three people, including Barbara.
Another was named as Ryan D. Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old currency trader, and the third was a woman whose name is being kept private, at her family’s request.
“I had no idea it was my mother’s plane”
Recalling the day he lost his mother Paul Keating said he left home with his mother early that day, as she headed to Boston International Airport to fly back to her home in California after visiting him and his family.
Meanwhile he drove to Stamford, Connecticut to meet a client.
When they heard a plane had struck the World Trade Center, Paul and his client went to the rooftop and looked out at the New York City skyline, where they saw a plume of smoke rising from the North Tower.
“I had no idea it was my mother’s plane,” he told ITV News’ US partner CNN.
Paul said Barbara’s death was especially hard on her grandsons, who would cry out “Don’t leave, don’t leave”, every time he and his wife left the house.
But the recent identification of his mother’s actual remains has brought things “somewhat full circle” for the family, Paul told CNN.
Several years after the attack, investigators found an ATM card that belonged to his mother.
Then, about three years ago, the OCME reached out to the family again, asking them to submit DNA to test against a hairbrush they thought might be Barbara’s. It was a positive match but there was still no link to her remains.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said breakthroughs have allowed his office to “work with smaller amounts of DNA,” and to “obtain DNA from very degraded samples” that previously would have been unusable.
He continued, “This office made a very solemn promise to the families of the victims who were lost on September 11th, 2001.
“To do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to identify their loved ones and return them to their families.”
Barbara Keatings remains will now be will be laid to rest.
Speaking on behalf of families that have not yet received closure Paul said: “It does actually bring it to conclusion, I hope the same for the families that haven’t heard so far.”
“My mom was just a superwoman who certainly should not have been murdered in that way.”
He continued: “The City of New York, and the medical examiner’s office, the state of New York – we’ll always have a connection and a debt of gratitude for everything they’ve done every step of the way.
“They have given us a form of closure and we deeply, deeply appreciate it.”
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