Misidentified NYC Firefighter Finally Laid to Rest by Family
A fallen firefighter, whose remains were disinterred after it was learned he had been misidentified, was buried Saturday by his family.
“We got our son back, and we can lay him to rest,” said Alexander Santora, whose son, Christopher Santora, died in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
The city medical examiner confused Santora with his Engine Co. 54 colleague Jose Guadalupe, 37.
Santora and Guadalupe, among the city’s 11,000 firefighters, worked side by side. They were among 343 firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Each wore a flat gold chain around his neck and each had a distinctive pair of spinal vertebrae that misled three doctors and a radiologist, officials said.
DNA testing on the remains showed Tuesday that the body was actually Santora, 23, who had arrived at Engine 54 just two months before his death.
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