For countless survivors and eyewitnesses, the morning of the September 11 attacks began beneath an unforgettable sky: vivid blue, completely clear and without a cloud in sight.
That calm late-summer scene was shattered within moments. Lower Manhattan was soon engulfed by an immense column of smoke, while dust flooded the streets and wreckage fell from the sky. Stunned New Yorkers looked upward, struggling to process the catastrophe playing out above them.
Henryk Siwiak was among those who saw the disaster unfold. The Polish immigrant was working at a construction site near the World Trade Center when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46am. Seventeen minutes later, another hijacked aircraft struck the South Tower.
As terrified crowds screamed and emergency sirens cut through the chaos, Siwiak faced an urgent problem of his own. Workers were ordered to evacuate the construction site, which was then shut down indefinitely.
For the 46-year-old, the lost work carried consequences far beyond one missed shift. His wife and two children were still in Poland and relied on the money he sent home from New York. Siwiak had moved to the US just 11 months earlier, after being laid off from his railway inspector job and failing to find steady employment in his homeland.
Hoping to build a better future through the American dream, he crossed the Atlantic and moved in with his sister, Lucyna, in Far Rockaway, Queens. He took whatever work he could find, sending his family several hundred dollars each month.
Lucyna later described her brother as a workaholic. So while the nation watched its world change forever, Siwiak did not stay home. After the site closed, he returned to Queens determined to find another job.
Henryk Siwiak holds the tragic distinction of being the final person killed on September 11. He is pictured in the camouflage jacket his family believes may have contributed to his murder.
Siwiak was at a Lower Manhattan construction site when the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46am.
Once home, Siwiak phoned his wife, Ewa, in Poland to reassure her that he was safe. He then told her he planned to head back out and look for work.
Ewa pleaded with Siwiak to stay home, where it was safe, but he refused. Instead, he walked to a Polish employment agency where he lined up a job overnight cleaning at a supermarket on Albany Avenue in Brooklyn.
Before leaving for his first shift, he stopped to ask his landlady for directions to Albany Avenue. The pair consulted a subway map to outline the fastest route – settling on the A Train toward Utica Avenue, followed by a short walk.
He left home wearing what Lucyna remembered as his signature outfit: a camouflage jacket, matching pants and black army boots.
Whether that choice of clothing played a role in what happened hours later has troubled his family ever since.
What Siwiak wouldn’t realize before it was too late was that he and his landlady had mapped out a route to the wrong Albany Avenue. Siwiak was meant to be in Flatbush, but he exited the train four miles away in Bed-Stuy.
Much of what happened to him next remains a mystery 25 years later.
What is known is that Siwiak emerged from the subway at Utica Avenue shortly after 11pm and walked west along Fulton Street until he reached Albany Avenue. There, already miles from where he was supposed to be, he made another crucial mistake: he turned right, heading north toward Decatur Street instead of south toward the supermarket.
At the time, the neighborhood was a hotbed of criminal activity and gang violence.
Retired Lt. Commander Tom Joyce, who oversaw the NYPD’s 79th Precinct in Bed-Stuy, described the area to the Daily Mail as not the kind of place someone would want to go wandering around alone at night, nor one that was particularly welcoming to outsiders.
Siwiak was lost, alone and spoke limited English.
Soon the danger would reveal itself.
Lucyna Siwiak says she remembers her brother for his infectious laugh and the joy he brought to her life. She still struggles to accept his death
A mix-up of addresses led Siwiak to his grisly fate. The area of Bed-Stuy where he ended up was a hotbed of criminal activity and gun violence at the time
Somewhere near 119 Decatur Street, police believe he was confronted by a group of ‘unknown individuals,’ an argument erupted and shots were fired.
Witnesses overheard shouting in the street but told investigators they were too scared to look out the window, so they didn’t see anything, Joyce said.
In a city overwhelmed by 2,753 deaths, Siwiak’s murder would become a grim anomaly.
He was the last person known to have been killed in New York on September 11 and the only homicide recorded by the NYPD that day, with the victims of the terror attacks classified separately.
Twenty-five years later, his is also the only killing from that day that remains unsolved.
In another place, on another night, the murder of a 46-year-old father of two might have triggered an enormous police response.
But the NYPD was stretched razor thin on 9/11, consumed by a scale of tragedy it had never before encountered.
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Siwiak was shot at multiple times, but struck once in the chest and died. Witnesses refused to speak with police
With the city’s first responders all deployed at the World Trade Center, resources to investigate the murder were scarce
Each year Lucyna quietly mourns her brother by attending a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, standing shoulder to shoulder with 9/11 attack victims’ families
Complicating matters was the fact witnesses weren’t willing to speak with police.
The scant physical evidence included shell casings found at the scene, fired from a .40-caliber handgun that has never been recovered.
In the absence of concrete leads, the investigation quickly hit a wall, leaving loved ones and detectives with only theories about who might have harmed Siwiak and why.
For Joyce, the most logical explanation was that he was killed in a botched robbery.
However, Lucyna never bought that reasoning because Siwiak was found with his wallet in his pocket, which contained $75 in cash.
For years, she was consumed by a singular theory: that maybe her younger brother was mistaken for a terrorist.
He was dark skinned, with a prominent brow and a thick, foreign accent. He was also dressed from head to toe in military fatigues.
Police theorized that perhaps he was killed during a botched robbery, even though his wallet was found in his pocket with $75 inside
His family believes he may have been killed in a paranoid case of mistaken identity due to his dark complexion, army fatigues and thick foreign accent
Whatever happened on Decatur Street that night, Lucyna would learn the result only hours later.
The devastating news arrived with a knock at the door.
An officer told her that Siwiak had been killed. Lucyna called Ewa. Siwiak’s 10-year-old son answered and, without thinking, Lucyna told him his father was dead.
For Joyce, the mention of Siwiak’s name stirs an uncomfortable feeling of regret.
He retired from the NYPD in 2006 but counts Siwiak’s unsolved murder among the cases that haunt him most.
Siwiak moved to New York in October 2000, hoping to achieve the American dream for him and his wife and two children, then 17 and 10
A total of 2,753 people were killed in New York City during the 9/11 attacks
There is a $12,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Henryk Siwiak
Over the years, Joyce has called for the case to be reexamined.
So far, those efforts have come up empty.
Each year on September 11, officers hand out fliers and put up posters around Decatur Street, seeking new leads and offering a $12,000 reward.
When contacted for an update in the case, the NYPD directed the Daily Mail to a podcast episode created by the department in 2021 that a spokesperson claimed had all the ‘latest’ information.
Ultimately, Joyce believes the key to finding Siwiak’s killer will be a witness coming forward with the information they were too scared to share at the time.
‘Twenty-five years is a long time, but the passage of time doesn’t diminish the importance of finding justice for Henryk and his family,’ Joyce said.
‘My hope on this anniversary is that someone who knows something finally comes forward, and that sooner rather than later, Henryk’s case reaches the justice it deserves.’
Until such a time, Lucyna will mark the anniversary of her brother’s death the same way she always has: by attending a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the families of 9/11 victims, quietly mourning her loss in the shadow of a much larger tragedy.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. Callers should refer to the Crime Stoppers Poster Number BK-1375 when calling.