Another mystery in the 9/11 ground zero flag disappearance has been solved.
Police learned how an Everett man came to possess the missing historical flag, and turn it in to officials.
An iconic 9/11 photo showed an American flag being raised by three New York City firefighters over Ground Zero. It disappeared several hours later, only to found in Everett over a decade later.
A man who identified himself as “Brian,” turned the flag into Everett Fire and gave few details about where he got the flag from. Detectives analyzed DNA and dirt and dust samples to confirm the flag was the missing one.
After seeing news coverage about the flag earlier this month, Brian Browne wrote detectives a letter explaining that he received the flag as a gift from a friend at a Veteran’s Day gathering in 2006.
He believes the flag changed hands several times from New York to Washington State, eventually landing in the hands of Browne’s friend.
A Marine Corp. veteran, Browne also collects flags, and it remained in his collection until November 2014. Browne realized what he had after watching an episode of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History. He noticed a distinguishing feature between his flag and the missing 9/11 flag featured in the episode – black tape and U-shaped metal piece at the lower grommet.
“I had that sickening feeling inside that this flag must be the one,” Browne wrote in a letter to the police.
Browne decided to turn the flag over to officials to give the flag back to its rightful owners.
“My only wish is that it never leaves its beautiful custom case,” Browne wrote. “It has too much sentimental value, and in my opinion is a very sacred piece to be shared and shown at the museum, never to leave hallowed ground.”
