Roll of Honor
Dennis Bonelli
Incident
Location: New York Incident Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Weapon: Aircraft; Passenger jet Offender: 19 suicide attackers
Special Agent Dennis Bonelli died as the result of cancer that he developed following his assignment to the search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
Special Agent Bonelli had served with the FBI and had previously served with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Special Agent Dennis Bonelli was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 50 years old that fall.
He died on November 28, 2017 - 16 years and 2 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 66.
He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 19 at United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The most recent of these deaths was October 24, 2025.
Officers who worked the search, rescue, and recovery at the World Trade Center site breathed contaminated air for weeks and months afterward. Many developed cancers and respiratory disease, and they have gone on dying of it ever since.
Seventy-two officers were killed on the morning itself. Hundreds more have died in the years that followed. They are honored here together, because the same attack killed them all. With some it simply took longer.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two stepdaughters, and brother.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-2CA62DCE- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Special Agent Bonelli served with the United States Department of Justice.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Special Agent Bonelli.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Special Agent Dennis Bonelli is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation, 20 of 89 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 22.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Dennis Bonelli's cause is highlighted.
How Dennis Bonelli Compares
Offender Outcome
19 suicide attackers
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Dennis Bonelli is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
88 officers from United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
