Daughters of 9/11: Two daughters, two heartbreaking losses and a case still unresolved after 25 years

Daughters of 9/11 on CBS will bring a story of lives that were permanently changed by September 11, 2001. The loss was incredibly painful, especially for Elizabeth Miller and Jessica Trant, the two women who lost their fathers that morning.

Elizabeth was just a six-year-old kid when FDNY firefighter Douglas C. Miller entered the South Tower and never returned. Jessica was 19 when her adoptive father, Cantor Fitzgerald bond trader Daniel P. Trant, called home from the 104th floor of the North Tower after the attack began.

The daughters' memories, grief and journey into their adulthood give a closer look at what it meant to grow up after losing a parent in the attacks. More than two decades have passed, and the legal case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged principal architect of 9/11, remains unfinished.

Now, CBS is coming up with a special called Daughters of 9/11, focused on the experiences of Elizabeth Miller and Jessica Trant. It will be a two-hour program that can later be streamed on Paramount+ after the TV broadcast.

More details about this case below.

Daughters of 9/11 on CBS: Elizabeth Miller remembers the father behind the firefighter

For Elizabeth Miller, her father Douglas was much more than an FDNY firefighter. He was 34, worked with Rescue Company 5 on Staten Island and had previously been an electrician and volunteer firefighter in Pennsylvania.

At home, he turned ordinary days into games for Elizabeth and her sisters, Rachel and Katie. He cooked scrambled eggs, sang, watched Ghostbusters with them and invented playful "rescue" drills.

Elizabeth was just 6 when she was in school, lost a tooth and there was news about the attack. Her mother picked her up from school early, and the kid could see a change in her mother's mood.

Douglas C. Miller had entered the South Tower with Rescue Company 5. All 11 members of the company died. Three days later, Laurie told the girls that their father had gone to heaven and would not be coming home.

There weren't many answers about the deaths of the members and the family had to live with the grief and pain. When Elizabeth grew up, she learned about the attack and understood the forces behind 9/11.

As explained earlier, CBS' special program titled Daughters of 9/11 will remind viewers about the same tragic incident. Miller is also expected to share her insights and how she's doing now.

Daughters of 9/11: How Jessica Trant lost a father, coach and guiding figure

Jessica Trant's painful journey will also be part of CBS' Daughter of 9/11 as it's also little different from that of Miller's story. Jessica was already 19 when the attack took place and little did she know that she would soon lose her father.

Daniel Trant was a former basketball player who had been drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1984. He later started working as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. He was also the man who coached Jessica's sports teams and helped shape her love of athletics.

Daniel Trant adopted Jessica when she was four and the family used to celebrate her arrival every year. On September 11, Daniel called Kathy from the 104th floor. He described the smoke and flames and told his family he loved them before saying he would try to escape.

The call then ended. Jessica stayed with her younger brothers and took them to an arcade while the family waited for news. When Kathy returned and the family learned that Cantor Fitzgerald had lost 658 people, Jessica broke down. Daniel's remains were never identified.

The tragedy changed Jessica as the pain was unbearable for the entire family. Like other Daughters of 9/11, she has continued to revisit the loss as an adult. She has attended Guantánamo proceedings and spoken publicly about what it feels to live with an unfinished legal chapter involving her father.

Daughters of 9/11 and the case that still has no ending

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003. He was later held in the CIA’s secret detention program before being transferred to Guantánamo in 2006.

Repeated waterboarding and other coercive methods were used in his treatment. And this became a major issue in determining whether statements made later could be used in court.

KSM and his co-defendants have spent years in military commission proceedings, but no full trial has begun. Additionally there have been disputes over evidence and classified material along with mental health and statements linked to CIA detention. This has only slowed down the case.

In July 2024, KSM, Walid bin 'Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi agreed to plead guilty in return for life sentences. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin later revoked the agreements, and an appeals court rejected them in 2025. By 2026, the case was still stuck in pretrial proceedings.

For the Daughters of 9/11, that delay has a deeply personal meaning. Elizabeth Miller has supported a negotiated resolution, while other families want a full trial and possible death sentences.

So, almost 25 years have passed and the search for accountability continues. These Daughters of 9/11 deserve answers, as what they went through was not just heartbreaking but remains painful today as well.

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