More than 20 years after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, New York City authorities have positively identified the remains of another victim.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham Joint statement Advances in DNA testing, including “next-generation sequencing technology,” have enabled authorities to identify the remains of John Ballantine Niven, it has been announced.
NivenJohn Jr., a husband and father of an 18-month-old boy, was 44 years old when he went to work that fateful Tuesday morning. He was his senior vice president of M&A at insurance company AON Risk Services on his 105th floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 8:46 a.m. that morning, American Airlines Flight 11, which had left Boston for Los Angeles, was hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and crashed into the North Tower. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175, bound for Los Angeles from Boston, crashed between the 77th and 85th floors of the South Tower.
just Four people None survived at the crash site or in the South Tower above it. Everyone else, including Niven, who was 20 floors up, died.
Niven grew up in Oyster Bay, a city of about 300,000 people on Long Island. After marrying his wife Ellen, he and his family divided their time between Oyster Bay and Manhattan.
“He would take him everywhere, wash his car, go swimming in the pool. He would even curl up with his son's toy car,” Niven said. Obituary At the time, I only read parts of it. “In my quiet time, I liked reading about history and philosophy.”
Twenty-two years after his death, Ellen Niven has released a moving statement following the announcement about her late husband. “Hearing that the DNA has been discovered after so many years is certainly emotional for me, and for many others,” she wrote in her email. AP.
“This is a true tribute to New York City and the team that has worked behind the scenes for many years to honor its mantra of 'never forget.' My son and I are so grateful for this incredible effort.”
The mayor and coroner also released a statement praising Niven and the city employees whose hard work and dedication made Niven's identification possible.
“The pain of the enormous loss of September 11th will never go away, but the possibility of new identifications could bring comfort to the families of the victims,” Mayor Adams said. “We are grateful for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s continued efforts to honor the memory of John Ballantyne Niven and all those we have lost.”
“Our solemn commitment to using the latest advances in science to find answers for families remains as strong today as it was in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks,” Dr. Graham added. “This new identification is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our agency and the determination of our scientists.”
Few bodies were recovered after the attacks, so only about 40% of the remains of the 2,977 victims who died on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, have been identified. The other two victims were identified last September, but their names were not released at the request of their families.
Newsweek has contacted AON Risk Services for comment.
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