Death Toll at Trade Center Falls by 2

The World Trade Center death toll has dropped by two to 2,795 after a New York City woman and a Florida man who had been reported missing after the terrorist attacks were found alive, city officials said Saturday.

Police located Tina Spicer of Manhattan and Peter Montoulieu of Miami more than a year after they were listed as terrorism victims, and seven weeks after their names were read during the ground zero anniversary ceremony.

“It was verified that they are alive and well,” said Police Inspector Jeremiah Quinlan, who has overseen the trade center missing-persons effort.

Montoulieu told Associated Press on Friday that the closest he got to the trade center last year was during a layover at New York’s La Guardia Airport about a week before the terrorist attack.

He said his former wife reported him missing because she thought he had attended a convention in Manhattan. He called police recently after he learned that his name was on the victim list.

“They were really happy to hear from me,” said Montoulieu, 44.

After city officials made the list public in anticipation of the ground zero ceremony, several people listed as missing were found alive.

Officials did not say how the Spicer error was discovered.

Quinlan said Spicer’s mother reported her missing in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Thousands of worried relatives and friends placed such calls, causing the toll to swell to a peak of 6,700 about two weeks after the disaster.

At the ceremony, 2,801 names were read. Since then, five people have now been found, and one duplication was eliminated from the list.