Police Ponder How To Return Personal Items Found In WTC Debris
Some WTC DNA Samples Incomplete - January 29, 2002
Credit cards and identification cards found in the tons of debris removed from the site of the World Trade Center attacks sit in colored bins in a trailer at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island,on Jan. 14, 2002, in New York. Detectives are working to sort through the personal belongings recovered from the debris in the hopes of returning the items to families. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
(New York-AP) — Amid the concrete and steel scooped from the World Trade Center ruins are links to the victims and survivors _ bracelets and lockets, watches and wallets, key rings and cell phones.
Police are now beginning the monumental task of returning thousands of personal items to grieving families, and to the fortunate people who escaped.
"If we can somehow help to alleviate someone's pain and give them back a fond memory, we'd love to," said Deputy Inspector Jack Trabitz, commanding officer of the Property Clerk Division. For four months, the department has been storing and cataloging the ash-covered belongings. It recently began returning items that clearly show a name, such as drivers licenses, credit cards, datebooks and jewelry with a traceable inscription.
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