It is one of the most haunting and controversial images ever captured — a man falling head‑first from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, frozen in time at 9:41 a.m. and 15 seconds. For 25 years, his identity remained shrouded in mystery. But now, his sister has finally broken her silence.
The Photograph That Shocked the World
The image, taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew, shows a man suspended upside‑down in mid‑air. He does not appear to flail or panic. Instead, he seems almost at peace, as if he has accepted his fate. For many, he became known simply as the “Falling Man” — a tragic symbol of the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost that day.
But the photograph was so controversial that many newspapers, including The New York Times, pulled it from circulation within days of publishing it, after readers said it was too painful to look at.
The Search for His Identity
For years, the man’s identity remained a mystery. No official list of those who jumped from the towers was ever compiled, with New York’s Chief Medical Examiner classifying all deaths as homicides. Estimates of how many people jumped range from around 50 to more than 200, over a 90‑minute window, with almost no photographic record of who they were.
The search for the “Falling Man” began when a Canadian journalist first linked the image to Norberto Hernandez, a pastry chef at the Windows on the World restaurant, after his sister recognized the clothing. However, Hernandez’s devout Catholic family rejected the theory, insisting he would never have jumped.
It was Esquire writer Tom Junod who reopened the investigation. He discovered that Drew’s camera had captured a sequence of 12 frames. In later shots, the man’s shirt blew open to reveal a distinctive orange T‑shirt underneath — a detail that ruled out Hernandez, who didn’t own one.
Junod instead identified the most likely match as Jonathan Briley, a 43‑year‑old sound engineer at Windows on the World restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. Briley stood 6ft 5in tall, wore black high‑top shoes, and was known to wear an orange T‑shirt beneath his work uniform.
A Sister’s Pain — and Her Faith
Now, 25 years later, Jonathan’s sister Gwen Briley‑Strand, 72, has spoken publicly about the photograph — and the faith that has carried her family through the tragedy.
She told the Daily Mail that her family had been “very hurt” when Jonathan was suspected to be the man in the photo, but that she had never “fixated” on whether it was him.
“The photograph brought so much pain to so many people when they were trying to figure out who this person was,” she said.
She revealed that she no longer looks at the image. “I don’t look at the photo anymore,” she admitted.
But what truly sets her apart is her unwavering faith. Gwen recalled hearing about another family who were deeply religious and believed that jumping was suicide — “the unforgivable sin.”
She rejected that idea completely:
“I don’t believe in an unforgivable sin. God is too benevolent. He’s too wonderful. I think the only unforgivable sin is not to believe in Him.”
“I believe that all those individuals that jumped were caught. Their spirits were caught.”
A Final Family Holiday
Perhaps the most heartbreaking detail Gwen shared is that she and Jonathan had enjoyed one last holiday together — just one week before the attacks.
Jonathan, who had asthma and had been ordained a deacon just six months before his death, joined Gwen and her husband on a last‑minute trip to Florida.
Describing it as “a gift of God,” she recalled: “We were right there on the ocean and we would get up and have Kahlua and coffee and watch the sunrise. It was really special because he decided to join us at the last minute.”
That week was the last time she ever saw her brother.
“It Feels Like Yesterday”
A quarter of a century on from the tragedy, Gwen still watches the anniversary coverage every year.
“There are times when it feels like 25 years but, then again, there are times when it feels like yesterday,” she said. “It’s a wave of grief. Some years are better than others.”
The Truth About the “Falling Man”
In the end, Gwen believes the identity of the “Falling Man” doesn’t really matter. Instead, she said, he was a representative of all those nearly 3,000 people who had to go through that horrific day.
“He was a representative of all of those almost 3,000 people that had to go through that horrific day of September 11,” she said.
