Sneha Anne Philip

On the night of September 10, 2001, Sneha Anne Philip, a 31-year-old physician living in Lower Manhattan, disappeared after being seen on department store surveillance footage near her apartment. She has not been seen since. Because she lived close to the World Trade Center and had medical training, her family believes she died the following morning while assisting victims of the September 11 attacks.

Two investigations reached different conclusions about her fate. A private inquiry commissioned by her husband ultimately concluded she most likely died in the attacks, while a later New York City Police Department investigation examined difficulties in her personal life and suggested that other explanations, including voluntary disappearance or foul play, were also possible.

In 2008, a New York State appeals court ruled that Philip had died in the September 11 attacks, officially recognizing her as a victim of the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Background Sneha Anne Philip was born on October 7, 1969, in the Indian state of Kerala, one of three children, to Ansu and Philip Kochiyil Philip. She later moved with her parents to upstate New York, settling first in the Albany area and then in Hopewell Junction, a small hamlet in Dutchess County. Following her graduation from Johns Hopkins University in 1991, Philip decided to pursue a career in medicine and enrolled in the Chicago School of Medicine in 1995. There she met Ron Lieberman, a student a year behind her from Los Angeles, and began dating him. The two shared creative interests outside of their intended career—he was a musician and she was interested in painting. Philip took a year off traveling around Italy so the two could graduate together. They moved to New York City where they had both gained internships. Lieberman was at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, while Philip did hers at Cabrini Medical Center, closer to their small apartment in the East Village. A security camera at Century 21 recorded her during this shopping trip. The taped image and the credit-card records are the last confirmed records of Philip's presence anywhere. it shows a woman entering the building, waiting near the elevator and leaving after a few minutes. Due to the poor contrast from the sunlight in the lobby, the woman was visible only in silhouette, but her hair and dress were consistent with Philip as seen in the Century 21 tape from the previous evening. Philip's family also says the woman exhibits similar mannerisms. She is, however, not carrying any of the bags that she would have had from her shopping trip, and again she is apparently unaccompanied.

Gallant at first considered the possibility that Philip had used the attack to flee her mounting personal problems and start a new life under a new identity. However, her computer's hard drive revealed no evidence of any such plans or contacts, and she had also left her glasses, passport, driver's license and credit cards, except the American Express card, behind. Lieberman kept the account open in case any leads developed from attempts to use it, but none ever did. Gallant and Lieberman eventually concluded that Philip witnessed the attack and, as a physician, rushed to the site to render aid and subsequently perished there, either within the towers or in the ensuing collapse. to any lethal peril in order for any presumption of death and subsequent legal provisions, including benefits from the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, to apply. Lieberman believed that his wife's profession would have led her to rush to the nearby World Trade Center, if she was in the vicinity, and offer aid to victims. Philip's mother further testified to their online chat, in which she said she was going to visit Windows on the World and possibly do some shopping at the Trade Center's mall. The author of the NYPD report testified that he believed Philip probably died in the attacks. Judge David Saxe, writing for the other three majority judges, stated, "This is a disturbing case." Saxe observed that the central problem was the lack of direct evidence putting Philip at the site of the attack. However, he said while the City of New York applied the "clear and convincing" standard set forth in statute:

Even assuming that the clear and convincing standard is applicable, the standard does not require an absolute certainty; it merely requires that the evidence make the conclusion "highly probable". Even without direct proof irrefutably establishing that her route that morning took her past the World Trade Center at the time of the attack, the evidence shows it to be highly probable that she died that morning, and at that site, whereas only the rankest speculation leads to any other conclusion. The decision leaves only one missing person whose possible death at the World Trade Center is unresolved. Fernando Molinar, a Mexican immigrant, has not been seen or heard from since September 8, 2001, when he called his mother to tell her that he was starting a new job at a pizzeria near the World Trade Center. A similar petition to Surrogate's Court on his behalf also was rejected.

No physical remains have been found for over a thousand victims of the attacks at the World Trade Center, but Philip's family retained hopes that the jewelry she wore at the time of the attacks, which included diamonds that would have easily withstood the temperatures of the Ground Zero fires, would eventually be recovered and matched to photos the family provided to the city clerk.

Philip's parents have kept her room at their house in Poughkeepsie the same as it was when she lived there, as a memorial, with some added photos and her diplomas. Due to the walking involved, her family no longer attends memorial ceremonies at the tower; Ansu Philip, her mother, prefers to visit the memorial on her daughter's birthday. Lieberman remains close to his former in-laws, and remarried in 2010 with their encouragement.

Two memorial funds have been established in Kerala in Sneha's name. The Sneha Philip Memorial Fund, started by the family, pays for the treatment of indigent patients at a clinic outside Aluva. The Mar Thoma Doctor's Association has also started a fund in her name.