Juliette Scauso has lived her life knowing that her father, Dennis Scauso, died on September 11, 2001, but without ever recovering his remains. Dennis was a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department’s hazmat unit. Though he wasn’t scheduled to work that day, he switched shifts for overtime pay and was likely in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when it collapsed. His mangled firefighter helmet, marked with his badge number, was found months later. Dennis is one of more than 1,000 people killed in the New York attacks who have yet to be identified, according to the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, and efforts to identify victims have spanned over two decades. Recently, the city announced the identification of the 1,654th victim using a new technology called forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG). This method uses genetic data to trace family relationships and identify remains. Angela Soler, director of forensic anthropology in the medical examiner’s office, said the technology offers hope for more families to find closure. “There’s hope for more families to receive answers, and hopefully we’ll be able to test more remains in the future using this technology as well,” she said. Since 9/11, Soler’s office has worked to identify the remains of the 2,753 victims of the World Trade Center attacks. So far, 60 percent of those killed have been identified. The task has been one of the most complex identification efforts ever attempted. The challenges include the severe damage to human remains caused by the jet fuel fires and plane crashes, which left only fragments for DNA sampling. Additionally, some first responders were wearing uniforms with others’ names, further complicating identification. The World Trade Center site had far more victims than other 9/11 attack sites, and the remains of five of the 184 people killed in the Pentagon attack were never identified due to similar conditions. DNA technology has played a critical role in identifying victims. Since 9/11, the medical examiner’s office has identified 1,495 victims using DNA, some solely with this method and others with a combination of approaches. Last year, the city identified three new victims—24 years after the attacks—using DNA. The remains from the World Trade Center have been carefully preserved to allow for ongoing testing with new technologies. Soler said that the medical examiner’s office continues to retest remains as new methods become available, which is why identifications are still being made years after the attacks. For families like Juliette Scauso’s, the identification of remains can be both a relief and a painful reminder. While some families choose to have the remains placed in a repository at the 9/11 memorial site, others prefer not to be notified when a loved one is identified, fearing the emotional toll. Scauso, who has kept her father’s memory alive, said that an identification would not change the reality of his death. “It wouldn’t give me back my father,” she said. Still, she acknowledges the importance of the technology in helping others find closure. For Soler and her colleagues, the work is deeply personal. “As long as there are families looking for answers, we’ll continue searching for them,” she said.