By
MARY ALLEN
Staff
reporter
12/15/2001
Dover Air Force Base morticians have isolated the remains they think are the five hijackers in the Pentagon attack and will keep them as evidence for the FBI, a base spokesman said Friday.
Identifying the remains "would be relevant" to the government's terrorism investigation, an FBI spokesman said.
Scientists with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology have mapped five genetic identifications separate from the remains of the people killed in the September 11 attack, institute spokesman Christopher Kelly said.
Genetic information from the five does not match any DNA samples on file at the Pentagon or obtained from family members of the crash victims, he said.
Unlike those victims, the institute has no DNA samples from the hijackers' relatives to compare with DNA drawn from the remains. This has prohibited them from putting names to the remains.
The remains were flown to Dover from the crash scene in the days following the attack. Scientists took tissue samples at the base mortuary and conducted DNA tests on them at the institute's lab in Rockville, Md., Kelly said.
Military victims were identified through DNA records kept by the Pentagon.
Officials used dental records and DNA samples to identify passengers aboard the plane.
Maj. Jon Anderson said the hijackers' remains were identified through a process of elimination.
The remains are being refrigerated in Dover.
"They are going to go to the FBI to be kept as evidence," he said.
The base is awaiting word on where and when the bureau wants them. Chris Murray, a FBI spokesman, said Friday he did not know if there are plans to move the remains from Dover.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del, supports sending the remains to the FBI for evidence in the short term, a spokesman said Friday.
"What happens after that is still up for discussion," spokesman Brian Selander said.
The senator has not taken a position on a long-term solution for dealing with the remains.
Carper toured the mortuary in Dover shortly after the terrorist attacks.
Murray said once the FBI is finished with the remains, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia would have to approve their release.
The Pentagon crash happened in northern Virginia near the Washington, D.C., border.
Kelly said the pathology institute would need a DNA sample such as blood, hair or saliva that is known to have come from the hijackers to put a name to the remains.
If such things are not available, scientists could use samples from both parents of the individuals or blood from the mother and siblings, Kelly said.
The hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
State Department spokesman Frederick Jones said Friday he did not know if the department has contacted the Saudi Arabian government or the hijackers' families about DNA samples.
The State Department does not normally play a role in the disposition of remains of foreign nationals who die in the United States, Jones said.
Reach Mary Allen at 324-2794 or mallen@delawareonline.com.