Former FBI Terrorism Expert Confirmed Dead

The body of John P. O’Neill, once the FBI’s top terrorist expert, was identified after being pulled from the wreckage of the collapsed World Trade Center.

O’Neill, 50, was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack two weeks after taking a job as head of security at the towers.

“John was a very good friend,” Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said. “Our hearts and our sympathy . . . go out to his family.”

Friends and family believe he was in his 34th-floor office at One World Trade Center when the first hijacked plane crashed into the upper floors of the 110-story tower. Within minutes, O’Neill was outside on the sidewalk, calling a close friend and his son, J. P. O’Neill, from his cell phone to assure them he was safe. He then went back in to help evacuate people.