http://www.unsolved.com/0201-Philip.html

Has anyone heard of the book based on the PostSecret website (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/)?

One of the posted secrets goes like this: Everyone who knew me before September 11th thinks that I'm dead.

I immediately thought of Sneha Philip even though she seemed like she had a great life with an adoring husband.

Almost all 9/11 websites list her among the dead. I'd run into some online stories about her family's battle to have her listed among the 9/11.

Wow, that's interesting. It could be that she was unhappy with her life and chose to start over. September 11th would have been the ultimate cover. That being said... I don't think that was the case. From what I've read, there was no indication that she was unhappy. I think that what happened to her is sad: she was most likely abducted and murdered sometime after 7:15pm on September 10th, and her disappearance slipped through the cracks in the days following September 11th.

You know I tend to think she perished in the 9/11 attacks. It is strange that her husband or any other family or friends didn't know the unidentified woman that was with her but clearly she was a friend or at least acquaintance of Sneha's or she wouldn't have been shopping with her. Since her husband was going to be gone all night anyway she could have decided to stay at her friend's apartment. She probably didn't bother telling her husband because she undoubtedly had a cell phone with her and knew he would be able to reach her that night if need be (he didn't try to call her that night if I remember correctly). Than whatever happened on the morning of 9/11 either she was in one of the building or rushed in and tried to help and died with all the others. It is such a sad case and how frustrating for the husband to always wonder whether she is still alive, died trying to help others or was murdered.

I have found this segment to be one of the most intriguing that UM ever aired. The following are my observations recorded in a previous thread on the Dr. Philip case:

First:

Actually I am surprised at how little there is about this story, however, I would anticipate additional coverage with the 4 year anniversary coming up in Sept. The only articles that I have been able to retrieve via the Internet have been New York Daily News and Newsday articles shortly after the disappearance.

I will locate and attempt to post hyperlinks to the story regarding the other person who disappeared after apparently escaping the World Trade Center on 9/11. It is reference in a previous Message Board thread on this subject.

The story of Sneha Philip is one that just got to me. Maybe it is because it occurred in the shadow of 9/11 and it's an individual story of loss that allows me emotionally to deal with the shock of the mass murder that occurred as a result of the World Trade Center terrorist attack. I guess I'm not really sure why it's so compelling.

I am not prepared at this point to advance a theory as to her disappearance. There are several questions that I have thought a lot about which I think someone must have an answer to:

1. Is it really impossible to locate the women with whom Dr. Philip was seen shopping?

Comment: I am not sure that I could walk into any store in America, purchase items and not be identified through some means. First, they can locate Dr. Philip's credit card transaction, and review the transactions immediately prior and after her purchase to see who might have purchased clothes at the same time. If that purchased items using a credit card, their credit card information can be used to identify them. If the person paid in cash, the store would at least have the inventory tracking numbers and item descriptions of those purchased by the person paying cash. The store could also determine whether those items were ever returned and at which store location. Second, the in-store security cameras could reveal what this person was wearing, what other shopping bags she might have been carrying, in addition to her general description. I would think that the store security personnel could determine whether a person matching that description was present at any other stores earlier or later in the evening. Also, external security camears at the store could determine whether this person left the parking lot in a car, or in which direction they walked, if they exited on the street level. Finally, I find it difficult to believe that a Manhattan doctor would "befriend" a total stranger in a store. If they met at work, at home, or through a mutual acquaintance, the person must be know and be able to be identified by others.

2. Have there been any similar disappearances in that section of lower Manhattan around the same time?

The area around the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan has an extremely low crime rate. I find it difficult to believe that anyone would come in from outside the area to abduct an adult, given the volume of people in the area, the fact it would be difficult to get out of there once the abduction took place, and the sophistication (in a streetwise sense) of residents of that area vis a vis strangers. This isn't like a child abducter targeting a suburban shopping mall looking for kids. Any pattern of adult abductions in that area would be easily identified. The bottom line here is that I don't believe a random abduction would likely take place in or around that store in the World Trade Center.

3. Is there a reason that this story has received such little coverage after it first occurred?

This is particularly baffling to me because it's such a compelling missing persons story, and (except for UM and Dateline or its ilk) I have never heard it mentioned in a national new forum in the past year. Yet, we constantly hear about Natalee Halloway, et al. Is it possible that the news organizations have access to unpublished facts? For example, do they know, but cannot prove conclusively that she is still alive and her disappearance was voluntary? Bottom line, why have there been no updates?

Any thoughts?

And, second:

In my opinion this case was one of the most intriguing ever profilied on UM.

I believe that this is one of those cases (and there are many of them) that the investigators have a pretty good idea of what happened and who was involved based on evidence that has not been made public. In most cases, the reason that they do not want to make the evidence public is because: (a) they don't want to "spook" the suspect(s) who may slip up at some future point in time; or (b) the picture is incomplete and they are working on getting additional evidence to clarify what actually happened. Because we, the interested public, do not know all the facts, we become frustrated at the lack of progress, even though the police have "solved" the mystery for all intents and purposes.

I have always been surprised at the lack of publicity concerning this case (after the initial reports of her missing). To me this suggests that the investigators, family members and media are fairly certain of what happened. It's always been difficult for me to believe that she perished in the World Trade Center collapse because, if she was treating people as a doctor, she would have done so on the street outside, plus the police, fire and security crews would have been keeping civilians as far away as possible to aid in the evacuation. A stranger abduction is also difficult to accept because she was in an area of Manhattan with a low crime rate and one that would not be conducive for abductions. In my opinon, the 2 most likely scenarios are that she met with foul play at the hands of someone she knew or that she disappeared intentionally, using 9/11 as a cover. She may have been from India originally, and it is possible that she left the US to return there. Unfortuantely, the first scenario is the more likely.

A final thought, it would be interesting to see the percentage of men and women who disappear voluntarily. I would guess that it is approx. 75% male to 25% female.

some unexplained disappearences of adults from NYC i found on the doe network:

Case File 78DMNY - manhatten new year's eve
Case File 45DMNY - manhatten jan 2nd
Case File 1829DFNY - the bronx (a nurse)
Case File 75DMNY - columbia campus
Case File 1504DMNY - manhatten

I agree with the notion that the other woman she was shopping with shouldn't be THAT hard to find. If she knew Sneha, she would have heard about her disappearance. If she perished during 9/11 (by some tragic twist of fate), she would be easy to track down as the photos of the victims were published and widely available.

I know that I have friends (acquaintances) my husband wouldn't be able to track down - simply by the chance nature of daily routines and mutual friends. I can only speculate that Sneha's disappearance didn't garner the publicity needed to flush out the friend OR the friend had something to do with Sneha's disappearance (voluntary or involuntary).

The more I read about missing persons, the less I understand about human nature. How could you choose to leave your life behind? How could you disappear without leaving a trail?

This case is really very puzzling. If the woman Dr. Philip was seen shopping with was a friend...even a recent acquaintance...you think she would have checked in with Dr. Philip after 9/11 to make sure she was okay. I also think Dr. Philip would have contacted her husband the morning the towers were hit just to make sure he was safe. Even if she was on her way to help the victims she could have made a very quick call just to connect with him and make sure everything was alright. That more than anything else makes me think something happened to her the night before. Otherwise I believe she would have made some kind of attempt to reach her husband or other family member as soon as she heard what had happened at the World Trade Center.

Those last comments only serve to strengthen my belief that something happened to Dr. Philip before the events on September 11th.

I want to echo ZanzibarBlue's thoughts about Sneha's disappearance and how her disappearance made such an impact on me. One face among the sea of missing loved ones - such a confusing and compelling story.

That morning, the first thing I did was call anyone I knew who might have been in the area of the attacks. I think she would have called her husband or someone, even if she were rushing toward the towers to help out the injured.