Second ‘victim’ of attack located

FOLLOWING the discovery in New York of a man feared dead after September 11, another ‘victim’ of the attacks has been found alive and well.

The last time a relative saw homeless man Albert Vaughan was near the World Trade Center site about a month before the attacks.

“Tell everyone I am alive and in good health,” the 45-year-old said by telephone from the Rockland Psychiatric Centre in Orangeburg, where he has been a patient. He said he had

no recollection of the morning of September 11 and did not seem aware his family had feared he was dead.

The family of George Sims, 46, from New Jersey, also discovered he was alive recently, it was revealed yesterday. The father-of-one, who suffers amnesia and schizophrenia, was believed to have been selling goods close to the Twin Towers on September 11.

He was later found at a New York health centre, but has so far been unable to recognise his family. The case illustrates why an exact death toll for September 11 may never be known.

The city medical examiner’s office said a revised list of the missing and dead is expected to reflect at least five similar cases when it is released next week.

Mr Vaughan has been removed from the city’s official list of people missing after the attack, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical

examiner. Ms Borakove said investigators have found at least five other people on the city’s missing list who are alive, but she would not provide any information about them.

Mr Vaughan’s sister, Claudia Benjamin, said her family told authorities shortly after September 11 about her brother’s disappearance. She said he was homeless for years before the attack and was living in subway stations.

Ms Benjamin said officials at a New York hospital told her family about two months ago that her brother was alive and in the hospital’s custody. He was later transferred to the psychiatric hospital in Rockland County.

Mr Sims, of Newark, New Jersey, was found alive in an undisclosed hospital, his family said.

His mother, Anna Sims, said her son may be suffering from amnesia, though he remembered his birthdate and enough of his social security number for authorities to contact the family earlier this month.

“He doesn’t even know where he is,” Ms Sims said. “He calls me Mrs Sims. He doesn’t even know me as mother.”

She said the family reported him missing on October 7 after hearing he might have been near the Twin Towers. Ms Borakove said Mr Sims was

removed from the official list after the New York Police Department advised the medical examiner’s office on August 20 that Sims was alive.

The city last week released its list of 2,819 people killed or missing in the attack, including Mr Sims and Mr Vaughan.