After over two decades, the remains of a new father who was killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks at the World Trade Center have been identified, with the help of state-of-the-art DNA technology. John Ballantine Niven was working on the 105th floor as a senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Aon Risk Services when he was killed.
The 44-year-old resident of Oyster Bay left behind his wife and 18-month old son.
Using a series of procedures that have been refined over the last 20 years, including DNA sequencing technology and mitochondrial DNA analysis, Niven’s remains were positively identified.
“It’s a real tribute to the City of New York and the teams working behind the scenes all these years to honor that mantra ‘Never Forget,’” the man’s widow, Ellen Nivens, told the Associated Press. “My son and I are so appreciative of this tremendous endeavor.” Read more.
Does that mean that she’s been an agunah till now? (Hypothetically, if she and her husband were Jewish?) What does halachah say about a person being missing under the circumstances, and the trustworthiness of the new test?
First of all, this article is about a dead man, so it’s not nogeah even if they were Jewish.
But woe to a Jewish woman who remarries and her previous husband returns after who-knows-how-many years. Even worse off are her new children with the new husband. There were lots of interesting agunah stories in der heim with gedolei yisroel.