9/11 Families - Medical Examiner's Report Update

Medical Examiner's Report (OMCE)

Reported Missing: 2,752		Remains Recovered: 21,744
Victims Identified: 1,626	59%	Remains Identified: 12,768	59%
Victims Not Identified: 1,123	41%	Remains Not Identified: 8,976	41%

Last Updated January 5, 2010  

*Please note that these percentages reflect two new identifications, 
One of the identifications was made by retesting of remains from the Phase I 
Recovery and  the second identification was from the Phase II Recovery.

Posted January 5, 2010
UPDATE ON THE RESULTS OF DNA TESTING OF REMAINS 
RECOVERED AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE AND 
SURROUNDING AREA:

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) continues to work to 
identify as many victims of the 9/11 attacks as possible. New 
methodologies are being utilized for unidentified remains from the 
original recovery (Phase I) and for remains recovered during the 
current WTC PHR Recovery Project (Phase II)*.

Since January 2006, a total of 6317 bone samples have been 
selected for DNA re-testing (Phase I Recovery) and 1773 additional 
specimens have been recovered as part of the Phase II Recovery. 
This results in a total of 8090 samples that require DNA testing 
(Table 1). As of this report, 1696 remains have been linked by DNA 
to known individuals and 6394 remains are in various stages of 
testing (Table 1).


Table 2 presents a summary of victim identifications since January 
2006. There have been 23 new victim identifications and 29† 
previously unseen profiles for which there are no matching 
references. These values represent identifications from any 
modality.

Table 1. DNA Testing Summary from 1 January 2006 - 1 January 2010 :

	Phase I Recovery	Phase II Recovery	Total
Testing Completed	953	745	1699
Samples in Process	5360	1028	6388
Total	6314	1773	8087

Table 2. Identification Summary:

New Victim ID's since 2006	13	12	25
New DNA profiles without matching references since 2006	21	6	27



Last Updated January 5, 2010.


Medical Examiner Notice: 

As of April 1, 2009, the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has 
been able to make a new identification:

Manuel Emilio Mejia, Age 54, Male Hispanic.

The identification was made by retesting of reference samples.

The number of WTC identification is now 1624.

Memorial Park Chapel Break-In Update

Dear Families,

Please note that a suspect was apprehended earlier at the 13th precinct this 
evening and confessed to setting the fire. The chapel itself, upon further 
inspection, did not suffer as much damage as feared and benches, statues 
and some posters remain intact.

We will continue with updates as information becomes apparent.

Sincerely,

Nazli Parvizi and Christy Ferer



For more information regarding the break-in, please go to our
Community News page.

FROM THE  MEDICAL EXAMINERS’ OFFICE
31 October 2009

Dear Families,
An unfortunate incident occurred this morning at the Office of Chief Medical 
Examiner (OCME), details of which we wish to share with you. 


At approximately 8AM this morning, a break-in was discovered  in the memorial 
chapel housed behind OCME.  This chapel served as a quiet  sanctuary where 
families could spend time near the remains of their loved ones  and leave 
notes, photos, mementos, etc. behind.

While the incident is still under investigation and details  are sparse, what we 
do know is after the break-in, mementos were gathered and a  fire was 
started in the chapel.  We are unclear as to whether or not the  mementos 
were stolen or burnt but little remains inside the chapel.  Aside  from smoke 
damage, the chapel itself remains largely intact.

Please rest assured that we are doing our best to understand why this 
senseless crime occurred and who was behind it.  Out of respect  for the 
families however, we want to share what information we do have directly  
before it is reported by the press. Included below is the Mayor’s statement on  
this incident.

Another update will be sent when more details emerge.
Sincerely,

Nazli  Parvizi                                                 Christy  Ferer
Commissioner                                                9/11  Liaison                 
Mayor’s  Community Affairs Unit                       Office  of the Mayor

Identification Process
Ben Figura, NYC OCME

Several family members have inquired about progressin the identification 
process. As of April 2009, 1,624 of the 2,752 victims of the World Trade 
Center disaster have been identified. These identifications were made 
through traditional DNA methods and new technologies such as 
Mitochondrial DNA and SNPs. These new technologies are allowing the 
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) to identify remains that 
could not have been identified in the past with traditional technologies.
However, the OCME has exhausted these technologies. When the 
OCME paused in the identification effort due to limits in technology, 
all families should have been contacted by the OCME.

If you would like more information about the identification process 
or new DNA technologies, please call the OCME’s World Trade Center  
hotline at (212) 447-7884.

Please visit and scroll down on our News section, 
http://www.911families.org/news.html, for how to request information 
on the property and jewlery found at the 
World Trade Center site.

Medical Examiner Notice: 


As of July 10, 2008, the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has 
announced that Sneha Anne Philip has been added to the list of people 
who died as a result of the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers.
                                       
Cause of Death:
                                       
Blunt Trauma
(Body not found; by order of the New York State Supreme Court, 
Appellate Division, First Department, 2221, Index 3542/03)

Manner of Death: Homicide

The number of World Trade Center victims is now 2751 (07/10/08).

This is a February 2003 article detailing the DNA Identification 
Process for victims of the attack of the World Trade Center.

February 2003
WTC DNA Identification Update 
Office of Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York

Two kinds of  DNA are being used for identification in the World Trade   
Center disaster: nuclear  DNA and mitochondrial DNA. Nuclear DNA is a 
combination of the DNA inherited  from your mother and father. You inherit 
mitochondrial DNA only from your  mother.

Nuclear  DNA 
To obtain a  DNA profile for an individual, the Medical Examiner's 
laboratories attempt to  measure the nuclear DNA at no less than 13 
positions. These thirteen points (known as markers), along with a marker 
for gender makeup a complete profile.  This is the standard profile used for 
human identification in criminal  casework, other disasters (American 
Airlines Flight 587) and identifying  soldiers recovered from Vietnam, Korea  
and other military conflicts.

Standard DNA  profiles are generated from markers that are from 100-400 
base pairs in length.  You can think of a base pair as one rung on the 
3 billion-rung ladder that  makes up your DNA. The remains from the World 
Trade Center that were brought  to the Medical Examiner's office were 
tested for DNA. Unfortunately, more than  half of them have not yet yielded 
a DNA profile sufficient for identification.  This is because decomposition, 
heat and water can break up the DNA, making it  difficult to measure a 
specific marker. So, for example, we may be able to  measure 9 of the 13 
markers (or even fewer), which is not sufficient for  identification (we say 
it "doesn't make statistics").

Two new  technologies, Bode-Plex (pronounced "Bodie Plex") and SNPs  
(pronounced "snips") may allow us to get a profile from smaller areas of 
the DNA. Bode-Plex allows a profile to be extracted from a segment of 
89-218  base pairs, while SNPs work with segments of 65-85 base pairs. 
Before these new techniques can be used for human identification, they 
must be validated by the  New York State Department of Public Health, 
similar to the way in which the FDA  approves a new drug for use. Bode-Plex 
has been validated and has just been  introduced to the WTC identification 
process. SNPs is currently in the validation process and has therefore not 
yet been used for identification in  the World Trade Center project.

Mitochondrial  DNA  
As  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited only from your mother, it is 
less helpful in identification than nuclear DNA. It is more robust (due to the 
fact  that there are more copies of it in each cell, it is contained in more 
cells than nuclear DNA, it is smaller in size, and seems to be more resistant 
to  deterioration), but less specific. Two siblings, for example, who have the 
same  mother, will have the same mtDNA profile.

Mitochondrial  DNA has been used for identification purposes in other 
disasters such as the Swiss Air crash. We are just starting to receive 
mtDNA information  from Celera Laboratories in Rockville,   Maryland. We 
are not currently using it extensively in the identification process, but we 
hope to once we obtain sufficient data. We expect to get all the 
mitochondrial data into our  database by early summer, 2003. We already 
have used some mitochondrial information in the identification process.

Bode-Plex  
Bode-Plex is a  technique for extracting a nuclear DNA profiles from remains 
where standard  techniques have failed. This technique was pioneered by 
the National Institutes  of Standards and Technology and has been re-worked 
and is being applied to the  WTC identification process by Bode Technologies, 
a forensics laboratory in Springfield, Virginia.  Bode-Plex has never been used 
before in human identification -it was developed  specifically for WTC and 
validation was completed in September.

Bode-Plex data are now being used by the Medical Examiner's for World 
Trade   Center identifications.  Initial estimates lead us to expect to receive 
around 2,000 profiles per month  from Bode Laboratories. Bode-Plex data have 
already led to identifications that  never would have been made otherwise 
and will assist extensively in linking  additional remains to people who already 
have been identified. We are retesting  all of the remains that did not yield a 
profile sufficient for identification  along with all the family samples and 
personal effects. Bode-Plex is a  modification of the normal DNA process and 
was therefore easier to validate.

SNPs  
SNPs stands  for Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. Unlike Bode-Plex, which is 
a variation on  the standard DNA profiling technique, SNPs is a radical 
departure from the  standard process and has not yet been validated for 
human identification.  Initial validation studies of the SNPs technique have 
proven inconclusive and  it is taking much longer for it to be validated than 
was anticipated. Once in  place, it is hoped SNPs will assist in the 
identification of remains that were  previously unidentifiable. We don't 
currently know when SNPs will be validated.  The first pilot testing of WTC 
samples is promising.

Virtual Profiles  
One of the ways Bode-Plex can help with the process is by providing an 
incomplete profile  that can be combined with an existing incomplete profile 
to create what is known  as a virtual profile. The DNA profile is made up of 
a series of numbers,  measurements of repeating patterns at 13 separate 
markers. Sometimes, though,  because of issues such as decomposition, 
we are unable to get the entire  sequence of numbers from remains. Certain 
parts of the code may drop out.  However, if we combine the parts of the 
code that different techniques produce,  we can create a "virtual profile." 
Using this virtual profile (a  profile made up of combined profiles), we can 
determine the entire DNA sequence  for the remains and identify them. 
These virtual profiles can be used to  identify remains that otherwise would 
have remained unidentified.

The Medical  Examiner's office is committed to identifying as many of the 
World Trade Center victims as science  will allow. Our WTC operations are 
funded through FEMA and are not impacted by  government cutbacks in 
the city or state of New York. We know that our process will  continue for 
at least another year and in all likelihood, much longer. Families  who have 
any questions about the DNA process or about the identification  process in 
general should call our WTC hotline at 212-447-7884, 9:00 am -5:00  pm, 
seven days a week.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

911 Families © 2009