A small detail in his clothing is believed to have helped confirm the identity of the man photographed falling from the World Trade Center on 9/11, 25 years after the image was taken.
25 years have passed since the September 11 attacks. Among everything being remembered this week is one photograph that’s followed people for decades: AP photographer Richard Drew’s image of a man falling from one of the Twin Towers, known as “The Falling Man.”
For years, his identity was a mystery. Eventually journalists narrowed it down to two possibilities: Jonathan Briley, a sound engineer at Windows on the World, the restaurant that sat on the North Tower’s top floors, and Norberto Hernandez, a pastry chef who worked at the same restaurant.
What eventually tipped it toward Briley over Hernandez was a small detail.
In the photo, his shirt has come open in the fall, and underneath is an orange t-shirt. Hernandez wasn’t known to own anything orange. Briley, on the other hand, regularly wore an orange tee under his work clothes.
This detail is what led most people to believe it was him in the photo.
Briley’s sister opened up about the tragedy
Jonathan’s sister Gwen Briley-Strand spoke about her brother ahead of this year’s anniversary, speaking about how the grief hasn’t moved in a straight line.
“There are times when it feels like 25 years, but then again, there are times when it feels like yesterday,” she told the Daily Mail.
