Archivists find thousands of undiscovered 9/11 photos on CDs purchased at estate sale

An estate sale purchase has shined a new light on the cleanup efforts that followed in the weeks and months after the attacks on September 11.

CD-ROMS containing thousands of photos of Ground Zero recovery were recently purchased at an estate sale.

Now the photos show the damage and devastation left behind after hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 11 and United Flight 175 into the Twin Towers 18 minutes apart.

Dr. Johnathan Burgess told the BBC his partner found the photos at the sale.

"Generally these items are neglected at sales. It's very likely these would be in a dumpster by now had we not gone," Burgess told the BBC.

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Jason Scott was able to upload the photos to Flickr after a CD recovery service was able to save the images.

“It’s a miracle the discs transferred so well. CD-ROMS of that age are pretty spotty,” Scott said.

Now the pair have a mystery to solve: Who took the photos? Burgess and Scott have not found the photographer and the person's relatives. The CDs were bought at the sale in Massachusetts and were originally purchased to collect and archive vintage media, WCBS reported. Most of the photos that were bought were images of babies and vacations. The images from Ground Zero were believed to have been taken by a construction or recovery worker, WCBS reported.

If anyone knows who took the photos, they're being asked to contact Burgess and Scott at gzphotos@texfiles.com.

Cox Media Group