Missing photo of 9/11 victim finally takes its place on memorial wall

vt-author-image

By Asiya Ali

Article saved!Article saved!

The final missing portrait of a victim killed in the 9/11 attacks has finally been placed in the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Antonio Dorsey Pratt, 43, was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald Forte Food Service on the 101st floor of the north tower of the old World Trade Center. He started the job just one week before the devastating tragedy.

Antonio, who went by Tony, left behind no digital footprint, therefore staff at the Memorial had to use a group photograph of him alongside his colleagues in order to finally obtain his portrait.

The picture was curated by enlarging, cropping, and retouching it to create the final image.

The photo has now taken its place at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which stands between the two fallen twin towers.  The museum holds photographs of the 2,977 people killed in the devastating attacks.

Watch staff place his photo on the memorial wall below:

Memorial CEO Alice Greenwald explained how the portrait was modified, saying: "In order to focus on his beautiful face, a lot of work had to be done to zero in and enlarge and enlarge to the point where it could be appropriate for the scale of the installation."

Greenwald said that Pratt's photo marked the culmination of a "process that began almost 16 years ago when we began work on just even imagining what the 9/11 Memorial and Museum would be and what it would contain".

Mary Fetchet, director of Voices Centre for Resilience, the organization that provided the portrait, also added: "This is a chapter in the sense that we were able to provide the last missing photograph for the exhibit."

wp-image-1263160501 size-full
Photos of victims of the 9/11 attacks hang in the memorial room of the 9/11 Museum. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy.

Pratt was survived by his wife, Asmareli Soga, and his son and daughter. He was the 1,569th victim to be identified with his remains eventually being recovered in September 2004.

Per the Daily Mail, after Pratt's remains were found, his widow spoke of her relief, saying: "Now maybe he can be in peace and we can have his funeral. It’s a miracle. God is good."

She added: "But after so many years, all of a sudden, I feel more hurt. This is opening up old wounds again. The pain never goes away. It stays with you."

Featured image credit: Randy Duchaine / Alamy