Dorothy Morgan (March 12, 1954 - September 11, 2001) was a woman from Hempstead, New York, who was killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. Her remains were recovered after the attack but weren't identified until September 2021, nearly 20 years after her death, alongside a male victim with an unreleased name.
Case[]
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Morgan was in the North Tower working for the insurance broker Marsh McLennan when the attacks by Al-Qaeda terrorists occurred. It is currently unknown if Morgan was still alive after the first hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 11, crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 AM. Minutes later at 9:03 AM, the second hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 175, crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, causing a fire and the building collapsing nearly an hour later. These hijackings would be followed by the terrorists hijacking American Airlines Flight 77 and crashing it into the Pentagon while a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, would crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the terrorists hijacking the plane.
In total, 2,977 Americans, people of other nationalities, and 19 of the hijackers were killed meanwhile 25,000 people were injured in the 9/11 attacks.
Aftermath[]
After the attacks, the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, was deemed responsible for the plane hijackings. The U.S. responded to these attacks by beginning the War in Afghanistan and the subsequent War on Terrorism campaign. Osama bin Laden was later killed in 2011 during a U. S. military raid in Pakistan.
Dorothy Morgan is one of the many victims of the attacks with their names engraved on the national 9/11 Memorial that now stands where the World Trade Center was previously located before the attacks commemorating the victims, alongside the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Morgan was survived by her daughter, Nykiah, who held on to a small hope that her mother was alive and had lost her memory from the trauma of witnessing the attacks.
Identification[]
In the years since the terrorist attacks, the New York City Medical Examiner's office has been working with DNA technology to identify over 22,000 human remains that were discovered afterward. Morgan was identified in September 2021 and is set to be returned to her daughter for a proper burial, only days before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Morgan was the first victim to be identified since October 2019 and the 1,646th overall to be identified. 2,753 victims overall have yet to be identified. Morgan's name is on Panel N-15 at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan.
Sources[]
- NPR
- MEAWW
- September 11 attacks on Wikipedia
- Dorothy Morgan at Find a Grave