9/11 Victim John Ballantine Niven Remains Identified After 22 Years – The 1,650th Victim IDed

The 1,650th victim of the 9/11 attacks has been identified as a Long Island man.

John Ballantine Niven, an Oyster Bay, New York native, was a senior vice president at Aon Risk Services. He was working on the 105th floor of the World Trade Center’s Second Tower. He was survived by his mother, brother, two sisters, his wife and their son, who was 18 months old at the time of the attacks.

“While the pain from the enormous losses on September 11th never leaves us, the possibility of new identifications can offer solace to the families of victims,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said. “I’m grateful for the ongoing work from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner that honors the memory of John Ballantine Niven, and all those we lost.”

Niven was one of the 2,977 victims of the 9/11 attacks, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. 

Only a few full bodies have ever been recovered when the towers collapsed. However, new DNA technology has allowed scientists to connect more than 21,900 remains to individual victims. It is considered the largest and most complex forensic investigation on U.S. soil.

Officials have identified 1650 victims as of today, but 40% of the remains have not yet been confirmed. Identifications have become harder, although two more victims have been confirmed just before the 22nd anniversary of the attacks. Their names were withheld at the request of the families.