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September 11th, 2001, a day all Americans will always remember. One of the darkest days in American history. The terrorist attack on 9/11 left almost 3,000 people dead, and over 25,000 people injured. The world we knew would be forever changed.
But the terrorist attacks weren’t the only thing that happened that day. While the world watched the World Trade Center buildings crumble to pieces, the family of 31-year old Sneha Philip were busy searching for her. The doctor hadn’t been seen or heard from since the day before, September 10th 2001.
Sneha Anne Philip was born on October 7th, 1969. She’s originally from India but immigrated to upstate New York with her parents. She graduated from John Hopkins University and attended medical school at the Chicago School of Medicine in 1995. Medical school is where she met her husband, Ron Lieberman. Sneha and Ron got married in May 2000 in a Jewish and South Indian Christian ceremony and moved into an apartment in New York City.
On the morning of September 10th, Sneha’s husband Ron went with her to a court appearance that Sneha was required to appear at. She needed to appear in court because she was facing criminal charges for allegedly filing a false sexual harassment claim at work. Sneha had been fired from his residency at the hospital and was cited for “tardiness” and “alcohol abuse issues.” She believed she was fired because she filed a sexual harassment claim against a coworker.
After Ron and Sneha went to court, Ron went into work and Sneha returned back to their apartment. From 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sneha was on the computer in their apartment. During this time, she chatted with his mother online about different things going on. Sneha’s mother later said that the only thing that stood out about their conversation was that her daughter mentioned that she was planning to visit the Windows on the World restaurant, which is on the top floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
At 5:18 p.m. she’s seen on her apartment’s security camera leaving the apartment. She stopped by the dry cleaners and then went shopping at Century 21. She’s captured on surveillance camera, by herself, shopping the racks. She used her husband’s credit card for $500 purchasing lingerie, bed linen, a dress, and pantyhose. Neither the items or the bags have ever been located. This is the last confirmed sighting of Sneha.
When Rob returned home around midnight, Sneha wasn’t inside the apartment. He went to bed, woke up on the morning of September 11, 2001 and went to work. Sneha is nowhere to be found.
A few hours into his shift at the hospital is when the first attack on the World Trade Center occurred. Ron tried calling Sneha at the apartment but got no answer. Later that day, Ron is unable to get back inside their apartment because the power is out.
The following day, Ron is able to get inside the apartment and the apartment is covered in ash. Still no sign of Sneha.
The next possible sighting of Sneha, besides the camera footage inside the Century 21 store, came from surveillance footage from outside of the apartment on September 11th at 8:43 a.m. A woman, who looks a lot like Sneha is seen on the camera in front of the apartment building. The woman goes into the building, stands in front of the elevator for a few minutes, and then walks back outside and is never seen again. Although the woman appears to look like Sneha, she’s wearing similar clothes, her hair kind of looks like Sneha’s, you really can’t tell whether or not it’s her. The woman on the camera isn’t carrying the shopping bags from the day before.
By this point, it’s now September 12th, and no one has seen or heard from Sneha in over 2 days.
During the investigation into Sneha’s disappearance, things weren’t really progressing in the case. Frustrated with where the investigation was going, Ron decided to hire a private detective by name of Ken Gallant. Gallant suspected that Sneha may have used the attack on the World Trade Center as an opportunity to run away from her current life.
But they didn’t find any evidence to support this theory. Sneha’s credit cards, glasses, drivers license were all left behind inside the apartment.
Rumors started to swirl that Sneha was bisexual and she would stay out all night at gay bars and clubs. The police theorized that her lifestyle contributed to her disappearance. But, her family started to believe she may have been a 9/11 victim.
A couple years go, and Sneha has not been seen or heard from since September 10th. Again, there’s been zero activity on her bank accounts, nobody has seen or heard from her. So by 2003, Sneha’s family filed a court petition to have her officially declared dead.
Ron testified in court that his wife’s profession as a doctor would have led her to rush to the nearby World Trade Center and offer aid to victims. That was in her DNA as a doctor. But the Judge disagreed and declared the day of her death, September 10, 2004, three years after she was last seen alive. The Judge did not believe she was a 9/11 victim.
Sneha’s family appealed the court’s decision and her case was heard in front of a panel of 5 Judges. This time, the court found that it’s likely Sneha was a 9/11 victim. It’s believed that Sneha was the woman seen on the surveillance video in front of her apartment and once she heard the first plane crashed, her ran to help victims. While rendering aid to victims, it’s believed she became a victim herself.
She’s been officially declared the 2,751st victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
What do you think happened to Sneha Philip? Comment below!
Episode Sources:
September 11th Attacks Wiki
Disappearance of Sneha Anne Philip Wiki
The Mysterious 9/11 Disappearance of Sneha Anne Philip article
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Sneha Ann Philip – The Charley Project
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