Researchers say they have used recent advances in DNA technology to identify a New Jersey man as one of the victims in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, the New York Times reported.
According to the report, the city's medical examiner was able to identify the remains as belonging to Scott Michael Johnson, 26, a financial worker who worked at a banking investment firm named Keefe, Bruyette and Woods. The company's offices were located on the 85th, 88th and 89th floors of the World Trade Center's second tower when it was hit by the attack. The south tower was the first to collapse that morning.
Researchers say identifying the remains can be difficult as many of the samples they have are bones, which can be difficult for scientists to isolate enough DNA to make a proper match. The intense fires and heat that resulted from the attacks were also a enough to degrade victims' DNA.
Johnson is the 1,642nd victim of the 9/11 attacks to be identified and the first since August 2017 according to the Times report. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001.