E-FILES ON 9/11 STOLEN

E-FILES ON 9/11 STOLEN

CITY CORONER'S LAPTOP

By PHILIP MESSING
May 3, 2007
NYPost

A laptop containing "sensitive information" about 9/11, including graphic photos of victims, has been stolen from a vehicle used by a top medical examiner official that was parked near Ground Zero, The Post has learned.

Frank DePaolo, director of special operations for the ME's office, discovered the disturbing theft about 7:30 p.m. Monday when he returned to the city-owned SUV, which he had parked in front of 100 Church St.

The computer has "confidential files" about 9/11 victims, including "information about the discovery of new bones and body parts that have been recovered" and "graphic photographs" of remains, said a source familiar with the incident.

The material does not identify victims, another source said.

Ellen Borokove, spokeswoman for the ME, confirmed the information in the computer included "scientific lecture materials."

"It is an ongoing investigation," she said.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne also confirmed the theft, but declined to comment on the contents of the computer.

DePaolo, who has been point man for the ongoing effort to identify the 9/11 remains, did not return calls.

The theft occurred in a well trafficked area near the site of the deadliest attack on American soil.
The SUV is marked "OCME" - Official Chief Medical Examiner.

"Whoever did this had a lot of nerve," said a law enforcement official.

It was unclear if DePaolo, a recipient of the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for Excellence in Medical Education, was downtown on 9/11-related duties at the time of the break-in.

DePaolo helped develop the city's mass fatality response plan. He also helped create the ME's Special Operations Response Team, a hazardous-materials and mortuary team that was the first of its kind in the nation.

philip.messing@nypost.com