Nearly 24 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, three additional victims have been identified through DNA analysis, New York City officials announced on Thursday. This brings the total number of identified victims to 1,653 out of the 2,753 lives lost at the World Trade Center on that tragic day.

The newly identified victims are Ryan Fitzgerald from Floral Park, New York, Barbara Keating from Palm Springs, California, and an adult woman whose name is being withheld at the family's request. Fitzgerald was identified through remains recovered in 2002, while Keating's remains were found in 2001. Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old foreign currency trader at Fiduciary Trust, had recently moved to Manhattan. Keating, 72, dedicated 25 years to public service, including a decade as the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Boston area. She was a two-time breast cancer survivor, according to her obituary.

New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham emphasized the importance of these identifications. "Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time. We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost," he stated.

Mayor Eric Adams also commented on the significance of the identifications. "The pain of losing a loved one in the September 11th terror attacks echoes across the decades, but with these three new identifications, we take a step forward in comforting the family members still aching from that day," he said.

The identifications were made possible through ongoing outreach to families for DNA reference samples. These samples were analyzed using advanced DNA technology and compared to remains recovered from the site.

Despite these recent identifications, approximately 1,100 victims, or about 40 percent of those who died on 9/11, remain unidentified, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.