Unidentified human remains returning to 9/11 site

NEW YORK – The unidentified remains of those killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 are set to be moved to a repository at ground zero this weekend, renewing a more than decadelong debate among grieving family members about the best final resting place for their loved ones.

The families were notified by a city official last weekend that the remains will be moved on Saturday from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Manhattan’s East Side in a solemn procession led by police and fire department vehicles to the memorial site. Once there, the remains will be placed in a custom-designed repository, located at bedrock level in the same building as the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

The somber setting will be available for family visits but will be overseen by the medical examiner with hopes that improvements in technology could eventually help identify the 7,930 remains.

Forty-one percent of the 2,753 people reported missing at the World Trade Center have not been identified.