In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Sneha Philip’s image was one of thousands on flyers plastered around New York City’s Ground Zero. Surrounded by so many missing-person photos, it was easy to miss the detail that differentiated the thirty-one-year-old Indian-American physician from the others. The flyer of Sneha Philip read, “Missing since Monday, September 10th.”

As with many victims of the World Trade Center bombings, the remains of Sneha Philip were never found. Her case, however, is more convoluted than most because it is not clear if she was in the vicinity of the World Trade Center when the twin towers came tumbling down. In fact, no one saw Sneha on September 11; the last confirmed sighting of her was on the evening of September 10.

Sneha Philip was ruled legally dead in 2004 but was not declared a victim of the terrorist attacks. That decision, however, was reversed on appeal, and today, she is officially listed as a victim of the September 11 attacks and her name appears on the National September 11 Memorial.

Sneha Philp

Sneha Philip and her husband Ron Lieberman lived in the Battery Park section of New York City, four blocks from where the World Trade Center stood.

Both Ron and Sneha were physicians; Ron was a doctor at Jacoby Hospital while Sneha was in her third year of residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital, now Richmond University Medical Center.

Newlywed Meds

Ron left home for work at 11:15 a.m. on September 10, 2001; Sneha had the day off, but it would hardly be a day of relaxation.

That morning, Sneha had been arraigned in court on a charge of filing a false complaint to the police. She had accused an intern at work of grabbing her inappropriately, but police found no evidence supporting the claim. Sneha was charged with filing the false report after refusing to recant her claim.

Legal Issues

When Ron returned home at 11:15 p.m. on September 10, Sneha was not at home. He assumed she had spent the night with either a brother or a cousin who lived nearby; she often did so when he worked late. Sneha, however, still had not returned home the following morning, September 11, when Ron left for work at 7:30.

After the first airplane hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m., Ron called home to check on Sneha but received no answer. At 10:30 a.m., he tried to phone home again shortly after the second plane crashed into the South Tower, but the phone lines were dead in the burgeoning chaos.

After the lines were restored several hours later, Ron phoned home but again received no answer. He was able to reach Sneha’s brother and cousin and learned she had not spent the evening of September 10 with either of them. Ron reached other relatives and friends who also knew nothing of Sneha’s whereabouts. When he was finally able to return to the couple’s apartment, he learned that no one who had been in the building that morning had seen Sneha.

Ron filed a Missing Person report with the New York City Police Department, which was inundated with such reports and did not have the manpower to fully investigate all of them.

Sneha’s Missing Person Flyer

Sneha had sent her mom an instant message at 2:30 p.m. on September 10. The security camera at her apartment building showed her leaving at 5:15 p.m.

Because the police were overwhelmed, Ron hired private investigator and former FBI agent Ken Gallant to search for Sneha. By tracing receipts, Gallant found she had shopped at the Century 21 Department Store near the World Trade Center on the evening of September 10. Her American Express credit card showed she had purchased three pairs of shoes, lingerie, and bed linens totaling approximately $550, at 7:18 p.m.

The department store’s surveillance video showed Sneha shopping, appearing to be alone.

Surveillance Image of Sneha at the Century 21 Store

Gallant initially theorized Sneha may have stopped for a drink and/or supper at the nearby Millennium Hotel and that something may have happened there that led to her disappearance.

The hotel was closed after the attacks, and the entire area where Sneha was last seen was in ruins. If something happened to her at the hotel, it would be virtually impossible to prove.

The Millenium Hotel is No More

Five days after the attacks, a clerk at the Century 21 Department Store contacted police after seeing Sneha’s missing person flyer. The clerk recognized Sneha as a regular customer in the store and recalled her being with another woman in the store on the evening of September 10. Sneha told the clerk her companion, who also appeared to be of Indian descent, was a friend.

Ron Lieberman and Ken Gallant viewed the tape again and could see two women leaving the department store together. They believe Sneha to be one of the women but are not certain. None of Sneha’s friends or relatives could identify the second woman.

The woman who may be Sneha was carrying several large bags of merchandise which were not found at her apartment, suggesting she never returned home.

Is This Sneha?

This possible sighting of Sneha with another woman led Ron to speculate she may have stayed at this woman’s home on the evening of September 10. The woman could also have been visiting the city and staying at a hotel; she may have been an old friend whom neither Ron nor Sneha’s inner circle knew. If this were the case, Sneha may have been heading home at the approximate time of the attacks on the World Trade Center and may have been killed during the first attack.

Sneha’s friends and family believe if she had not been killed during the initial attack but was near the area at the time, she, as a doctor, would have tried to help the wounded. Had she done so, she most likely perished in the second attack.

Unfortunate Timing?

Police initially believed it possible that Sneha Philp disappeared of her own accord. In addition to her legal troubles related to the alleged false complaint, she had been reprimanded at work several times for arriving late and for a drinking problem. She was on thin ice; one more screw up and she would be fired. In addition, Investigators say several acquaintances alleged that Sneha had a substance abuse problem, that she and Ron were having marital troubles, and that she had engaged in several lesbian affairs. Those contentions are denied by Ron and Sneha’s families.

Despite the initial suspicions, most investigators came to the conclusion that Sneha Philp perished as the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on that awful day.

Sneha, or Her Remains, Have Not Been Found

Investigators have not been able to identify either woman seen on the department store video. They believe if it is Sneha on the tape, the other woman is the key to learning her fate.

The second woman was described as possibly being of East Indian descent, approximately five-feet-two-inches tall, weighing between one-hundred-fifteen and one-hundred-twenty pounds, with short black hair.

Unidentified Woman

In 2002, Ron Lieberman petitioned to have Sneha declared a victim of the September 11 attacks.

No trace of his wife’s remains were found at the World Trade Center site, but many of the known victims’ remains were obliterated.

Was Sneha a 9-11 Victim?

A Circuit Court declared Sneha Philip legally dead in 2004 but also ruled evidence to conclude she had died in the September 11 attacks was insufficient.

In January 2008, however, an appeals judge, while concurring there was no proof Sneha had died in the attacks, also concluded the attacks were the most likely explanation for her disappearance.

Most Likely

Sneha Philip is now officially listed as a victim of the September 11 attacks. Her name is located on Panel S-66 of the National September 11 Memorial’s South Pool.

The September 11 victim’s fund closed in 2003, and Ron Lieberman never collected any monetary compensation from it.

Listed on the September 11 Memorial

Sneha Ann Philp was last seen on September 10, 2001. At the time, she was thirty-one-years old, stood five-feet-six inches tall, and weighed one-hundred-fifteen pounds. She had black hair, brown eyes, and wore contact lenses. Sneha had a mole on her left cheek and her toenails were painted purple.

Sneha Philp is Asian, of Indian origin. She would today be fifty-three years old. If you have any information relating to her disappearance, please contact the New York Police Department at 212-334-0635.

Computer-Aged Progression Of Sneha Philip

SOURCES:

• Charley Project
• Daily News
• Newsday
• New York Daily News
• New York Post
• New York Times
• Unsolved Mysteries