25 Years After 9/11, Man Seeks Public’s Help to Return Lost Family Photograph
Photograph of a mother and baby found among World Trade Center debris may have come from Fuji Bank’s South Tower offices
NEW YORK — Twenty-five years after a photograph of a mother holding her baby landed among World Trade Center debris on his Lower Manhattan balcony, Al Cini is asking the public and the media to help identify the people pictured and return the keepsake to their family.
Cini lived just a few blocks from the World Trade Center in September 2001 and worked in the technology department at NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. When he was permitted to return to his apartment several days later, Cini found his balcony covered with debris. Among the recovered materials was the photograph of the mother and baby, along with documents from Fuji Bank.
Because the photograph and bank documents were found together, Cini believes the image may have originated in Fuji Bank’s offices in the South Tower. Fuji Bank occupied floors 79 through 82, within the area struck by the right wing of United Airlines Flight 175. The possible connection could help narrow the search to former Fuji Bank employees, their families or others connected to those offices, but the photograph’s origin has not been confirmed.
Cini initally offered the materials he recovered to the FBI and kept the photograph safe. For the past quarter century, it has remained framed in his home as he waited for the chance to return it.
“For 25 years, I’ve looked at this photograph and wondered who this mother and child are, and whether someone out there has been missing this piece of their family’s story,” said Cini. “My only goal is to put it back in the hands of the people it belongs to.”
The search gained new attention after Cini’s sister, Alison Martino, shared the story on her Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page. Cini is now hoping that the renewed interest can carry the photograph far enough to reach someone who recognizes the mother or child.
Cini is available for media interviews to discuss finding the photograph, preserving it for 25 years and his hope of reuniting it with the family.
Anyone who recognizes the mother and child—or has even the smallest lead—can contact: reunite911family@gmail.com
