Man reported missing in Twin Towers by sister never existed

A woman who reported her brother missing in the World Trade Center attack last year is under investigation after authorities discovered that he did not exist, the FBI has said.

Jeffrey Montgomery was among three names removed last week from the still-changing list of victims.

City officials said initially that all three had been found alive.

But yesterday law enforcement authorities said Montgomery had not been found but was thought to have been made up by Cassaundrea Montgomery, of St Joseph, Missouri.

“At this time we don’t believe that Jeffrey Montgomery exists,” said FBI Special Agent Jeff Lanza.

“The FBI is investigating the possibility that his existence was made up in order to collect survivor benefits.”

Montgomery has not been charged with a crime related to the missing person report.

Montgomery allegedly received several thousand dollars from the Red Cross, which raised about a billion dollars to help victims’ relatives after the attacks.

Mr Lanza said Cassaundrea Montgomery was being held by local authorities in Missouri’s Buchanan County on a probation violation related to check fraud charges.

As of last week, the city’s official count of people killed or reported missing in the terrorist attack was 2,792.