Woman finally being laid to rest after being killed in 9/11 attacks
A mother who lost her life in the 9/11 attacks is finally being laid to rest on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.
Barbara Keating, 72, was one of the 92 people on board American Airlines Flight 11, when it was hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower on September 11, 2001.
The devastating day saw around 3,000 people in New York City lose their lives, after four commercial planes carrying passengers were hijacked, and two of them crashed into the Twin Towers.
As reported by ITV News, until August of this year, Barbara was among the 1,100 victims whose remains had yet to be identified.
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However, thanks to significant advancements in DNA technology, her remains have now been positively identified through DNA analysis.
On Friday, 11 September 2026, her family is gathering privately in Framingham, Massachusetts, to officially lay her to rest.
Barbara’s son, Paul Keating, told NPR: “We carved the headstone 25 years ago, but she wasn't there, and now she will be. This feels like, at least to some degree, some closure."
She was identified alongside two other people, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) confirmed.
The second person was named as 26-year-old currency trader Ryan D. Fitzgerald, while the third was a woman whose name is being kept private, at the request of her family.
On the day of the attack, Paul was traveling in New Jersey on business when he saw the Twin Towers fall.
He recalled: "Basically everyone stopped what they were doing; we were like across the water from it, watching it. At some point, I got a call and found out that that was my mother's plane."
She was headed back to Boston International Airport to fly back to her home in California after visiting him.
Years after the attack, investigators identified an ATM card that belonged to Barbara. Then, three years ago, the OCME reached out to the Keating family again and asked them to submit DNA to test against a hairbrush they thought might be Barbara’s.
The match was positive, but there was still no link to her remains.
The reason there has finally been a match is because of technological breakthroughs that have allowed forensics to work with smaller amounts of DNA and obtain it from very degraded samples that would have been unusable before.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said: This office made a very solemn promise to the families of the victims who were lost on September 11th, 2001.
"To do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to identify their loved ones and return them to their families.”
While Paul added, of the families who sadly are yet to receive closure: “It does actually bring it to a conclusion; I hope the same for the families that haven’t heard so far.
"My mom was just a superwoman who certainly should not have been murdered in that way."
He added: “The City of New York, and the medical examiner’s office, the state of New York – we’ll always have a connection and a debt of gratitude for everything they’ve done every step of the way.
"They have given us a form of closure and we deeply, deeply appreciate it.”
As reported by the BBC, DNA technology has helped the office identify 1,495 victims since 9/11.
However, 40 per cent of the people who lost their lives at Ground Zero have still not had their remains identified.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner continues its pledge to continue trying for as long as there are families looking for answers.
Madison Burgess