LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — As Heather Walsh-Haney drove past the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001, smoke still lingered in the air.
She turned to her mentor in the government-issued rental car and asked what to expect.
“It’s just like a normal forensic case,” Walsh-Haney said she was told. “The only thing that’s going to be different is the scale of the response.”
25 years later, Walsh-Haney is still living with the fallout from 9/11. Today, she chairs the Department of Justice Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University. As a board-certified forensic anthropologist, she helps law enforcement identity human remains.
That’s also what she did as a University of Florida graduate student in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Walsh-Haney was a member of the federal government’s Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, which helps local agencies identify and recover human remains in the wake of large-scale tragedies.
Like so many people, Walsh-Haney remembers exactly where she was that morning: Discussing databases as part of a research project at the Gainesville Police Department. Walsh-Haney said there were two large TV screens in the office.
“We saw the planes hit the towers. And my mentor at that time looked at me and said, ‘We’re going to be deployed, you’ll have your orders tonight,” Walsh-Haney said. “And he was absolutely right.”
The next day, she was in a government-issued rental car on the way to New York City. On the drive up, Walsh-Haney called her dad, a law enforcement officer who ended his career as a federal agent. She asked him what to expect.
“He said, ‘you can’t be prepared for this, but I know you can do it. Be brave,” Walsh-Haney said. “And I got there, and then from the moment I was there, you’re just thrust into the work.”
At first, Walsh-Haney was deployed to Ground Zero. But it quickly became clear the scene was not safe. Fires burned. Jet fuel covered the ground. Asbestos, mold, and crushed concrete filled the air. So, the decision was made to gather forensic evidence at the once-closed
Barges transported wreckage to Fresh Kills, where Walsh-Haney and others pulled 12-hour shifts, sorting through the debris. Not only did the crews find human remains, but evidence that was catalogued by the FBI, including wallets, flight attendants uniforms, and box cutters.
The memories are still vivid.
“At the same time, there are firefighters and law enforcement who have lost their friends, and they’re bringing me, you know, five gallon buckets and asking, ‘I found these remains next to a firefighter’s helmet. I can’t read the name. I think it’s my friends. Here’s his remains,” Walsh-Haney said.
The work was grueling. And there was more to come. Walsh-Haney grew up in a family of law enforcement and military. That’s part of the reason why she became a forensic anthropologist. It married science and service into something that Walsh-Haney has dedicated her life to.
So did her siblings. Walsh-Haney lost two of her brothers after they signed up for military service. And three years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer related to her work at the World Trade Center.
“As my friends kept dying or losing organs, I kept saying to myself, I was pretty lucky that I was there young,” Walsh-Haney said. “And then, lo and behold, it became my turn to stare cancer in the face.”
Even so, Walsh-Haney said she is honored to have been part of the response. And her work continues to matter.
Nearly 1,100 victims from Sept. 11 have yet to be identified. Last month, using a new investigative technique that incorporates genetic genealogy. Walsh-Haney is hopeful the evidence she collected 25 years ago will continue to bring closure for families.
“I had no knowledge that this was history in the making,” Walsh-Haney said. “I just knew that I had skills. Our country needed them, and I needed to step forward to do it.”