In a breakthrough development, the New York City medical examiner's office has identified the victim of a 23-year-old 9/11 mystery as John Ballantine Niven, a 44-year-old executive at Aon Risk Services. Niven was on the 105th floor of tower two of the World Trade Center complex when the attacks occurred. This identification marks the 1,650th victim to be identified from the attacks. The medical examiner's office has been utilizing advanced DNA analysis techniques to identify victim remains in recent years, with approximately 40 percent of victims still awaiting identification. The 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. [9319e36d]
The remains of John Ballantine Niven, a new dad killed in the 9/11 attacks, have been identified more than two decades later using groundbreaking DNA technology. Niven, 44, was on the 105th floor of the South Tower when he was killed, leaving behind his wife and 18-month-old son. His remains were positively identified using DNA sequencing technology and other procedures. Niven is the 1,650th victim identified from the 9/11 attacks, which killed 2,753 people. The Medical Examiner's Office is hoping this new technology will help identify the remaining 1,103 victims at Ground Zero. Niven's widow expressed gratitude that the family will now be able to bury part of him. The identification process was described as a tribute to the City of New York and the teams working behind the scenes to honor the mantra 'Never Forget.' [1f90b835]