A Long Island, New York man has been identified as the 1,650th victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, officials announced Thursday.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham have confirmed the identity of John Ballantine Niven of Oyster Bay, according to a statement from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).
The identification was made possible by advanced DNA analysis of the remains found in 2001, according to the press release.
“Our solemn promise to find answers for families using the latest advances in science stands as strong today as it did in the days immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center,” Graham said in a statement. “This new identification validates the unwavering commitment of our agency and the determination of our scientists.”
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“While the pain of the great loss of 9/11 never leaves us, the possibility of new identifications can offer comfort to the families of the victims,” Adams said in a statement. “I am grateful to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the work that honors John Ballantine Niven and all those we have lost.”
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According to a paid death notice published in The New York Times, Niven, 44, was born in Oyster Bay and attended Lake Forest College in Illinois. He was vice president of mergers and acquisitions at AON Risk Services, located on the 105th floor of the second tower of the World Trade Center.
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At the time his obituary was published, Niven was survived by his wife and 18-month-old son. The family lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but would go to Oyster Bay for recreation. Among his interests were tennis, history, philosophy and taking his son everywhere with him.
“He would say that although his life was short, he was truly blessed in the years he had,” Niven’s wife, Ellen, said in the obituary.
The OCME said in a statement that recent identifications of 9/11 victims have been improved “by adopting next-generation sequencing technology, which is more sensitive and faster than conventional DNA techniques.”
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The medical examiner’s office added in its statement that 1,103 victims – 40% of those killed in the attacks – remain unidentified.
According to the agency, two recent identifications were made last September. The names of those victims have not been released at the request of their families.
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Source: HIS Education