Sneha Anne Philip

Case background and investigation

Sneha Anne Philip, a 31-year-old internist at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, was last confirmed seen on the afternoon of September 10, 2001, shopping at a Century 21 department store near the World Trade Center. She had been placed on leave from the hospital and was dealing with professional and personal difficulties. She did not return to the apartment she shared with her husband Ron Lieberman in Battery Park City, just blocks from the World Trade Center, that night.

The next morning, September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes struck the Twin Towers. Sneha's apartment building was within the evacuation zone, and the area was engulfed in chaos and destruction. Her husband, who was working an overnight shift, tried to reach her but could not. In the aftermath, her family reported her missing and sought to have her declared a victim of the attacks.

The question of whether Sneha Philip died in the September 11 attacks or had disappeared separately became the subject of intense legal and investigative debate. Her family argued she had likely rushed to help victims as a doctor, as St. Vincent's Hospital was a primary triage center. However, the medical examiner's office initially declined to list her as a 9/11 victim, noting she had been missing before the attacks.

A Surrogate's Court judge ruled in 2006 that her death on September 11 could not be established, but on January 31, 2008 an appeals court reversed that decision and she was officially listed as a victim of the September 11 attacks. However, no remains were ever identified as hers, and the circumstances of her disappearance the night before have never been fully explained. Some investigators believe she met with foul play on the evening of September 10, while others accept the official finding that she died on September 11.