Nearly half 9/11 dead cannot be identified
Nearly Half of NY Sept. 11 Dead Cannot Be Identified, Forensics at New York’s Ground Zero Ends
"New York authorities have ended efforts to identify victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, leaving the remains of nearly half the 2,749 people killed in the World Trade Center unidentified, the city’s medical examiner said on Wednesday.
Some 9,720 unidentified bone and tissue fragments have been sealed and stored in case developments in technology allow for identification in the future, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.
Of those killed, 42 percent remain unidentified due to difficulties in getting DNA samples from the remains.
The medical examiner’s office has identified 1,585 victims, but progress has slowed to a halt on 1,161 victims. Only eight remains have been identified since September." – Reuters (02/23/05)