A grandmother who lost her life during the 9/11 attacks has finally been identified more than 20 years after the tragedy.
For 24 years, the remains of Barbara Keating have been undiscovered.
In the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the 72-year-old was among the nearly 3,000 people who died when the plane she was on struck the North Tower. Since her ashes were never recovered, her urn at memorial services contained rubble from the World Trade Center.
The attacks, orchestrated by the Islamist extremist group Al-Qaeda, involved two hijacked planes crashing into the buildings in Lower Manhattan. A third plane hit the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers intervened.
These attacks represent the most devastating assault ever experienced on American soil.
The incident saw both the North and South Towers engulfed in flames following the crashes, leading to the collapse of these skyscrapers, which were the third and fourth tallest buildings in the world at the time.
Sadly, not everyone who died in these horrific attacks has been identified, with about 40 percent (1,100 victims) still unidentified.
The family of the California grandmother had little hope over the years that Keating would be found among the debris. However, advanced DNA analysis conducted this summer finally provided a positive identification.
On August 7, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) reported the identification of the remains of three victims, including Keating from Palm Springs, California, along with Ryan Fitzgerald from Floral Park, New York, and another woman whose identity remains private at her family’s request.
Reacting to the development, her youngest son, Paul Keating, now 61, expressed his deep gratitude to the medical examiner’s office for their relentless efforts in providing answers to victims’ families.
Describing his mother as a ‘superwoman’ with a compassionate heart for social causes and helping those with disabilities, Paul Keating mentioned that she lived her life with a sense of mission.
Having survived breast cancer twice, she tragically lost her husband to a brain tumor in 1983 but remained determined, according to Paul.
In her retirement, she dedicated her time to volunteering at the church and assisting with her grandchildren, who were six and three years old at the time.
Paul recalled saying goodbye to his mother at Boston Logan International Airport as she boarded American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles on that tragic morning. Hours later, he watched as the World Trade Center erupted in smoke.
“I had no idea it was my mother’s plane,” he said.
The family held onto small hopes over the years that authorities were getting closer to identifying her remains after finding her ATM card and later discovering a hairbrush that matched her DNA.
“That’s when it really hit home: These people have been doing this for that long, at that level of effort,” Paul added.
Now, he says the confirmed DNA evidence has brought the situation ‘somewhat full circle’ for the family.
“It was personal to them, and they felt like they were on a mission for us.
“She [his mom Barbara] would be really, really impressed with this group that works on our behalf.”
“It does actually bring it to conclusion,” he said. “I hope the same for the families that haven’t heard so far.”
“They have given us a form of closure … and we deeply, deeply appreciate it.”
The identifications of all three victims, the first since January of the previous year, were achieved due to advancements in DNA science.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham explained that these scientific breakthroughs have enabled the team to ‘work with smaller amounts of DNA’ and deal with ‘very degraded samples’ that were previously unusable.