9-11-01 disappearance- Sneha Philip

[Mastermind]

Just looked at this case.

This is the young Indian lady who disappeared on 9-10, a day before the 9-11 attacks.

It's been thought that she perished in the attacks, but there is evidence to include that something else may have happened to her.

I've been trying to find updates or sites on her. Any updates or thoughts.

[TracyLynnS]

I recently read info that she was thought to have gone to help the 9/11 victims (she was a doctor) without leaving word to anyone, then subsequently died and was never ID'd. It seems like her husband had accepted this theory, but of course, I can't remember. I need to look it up again.

When she first went missing, I assumed that it was completely unrelated to the 9/11 attacks and that she had been abducted on 9/10. The huge confusion of 9/11 in NY just made it impossible for investigators to focus on her disappearance.

Personally, I'm undecided on what happened to her, except that I definitely do not believe that she left willingly.

[TracyLynnS]

I went looking around this site for info. There are several threads, but no new info.

In one thread, mozartpc27's post pretty much sums up how I feel about it:
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I've thought about this case for half a day now, and, on balance, my guess is that she was murdered on September 10th.

The two things you've got to balance here are these: on the one hand, well over 1,000 people disappeared within a day and within a square mile of where Dr. Phillips disappeared who have never been officially "found." That, in my mind, makes it a whole lot more likely than it would be otherwise that she disappeared in the same incident, namely the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, there is the matter of her credit card use and what she took with her to shop that day. ALL she took was her husband's credit card, and it was never used after the purchases in the department store. If she did survive in the night of the tenth, where did she go on no money and no purchases? Are we to believe a random stranger she just met paid for all her drinks? And her food? Even if this was a friend, apprently this friend insisted that her doctor friend not pay for anything? That's quite a buddy.

This fact alone --- that she never spent another dime of her own money after her day in the department store --- makes me suspect she died before the night was out. The question is: who killed her?

I'd love to know how/why the police eventually cleared her husband. Most of what we know depends on his account, and he has got to be the likeliest suspect here.
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She left no money trail. That's one thing that stands out to me. There's been no activity on her credit cards? She didn't withdraw money from her savings account? Authorities didn't find a separate, secret bank account, or secret credit cards, that her husband was unaware of?

If she left willingly, she would have arranged to have some kind of financial support but it appears that she never used her credit cards, nor her husband's card (the one she shopped with on 9/10), nor accessed her accounts.

[browneyes106]

I think it was mentioned here that she was added to the 9/11 victims list. I really think she might have went into the WTC and got killed. If she left her husband something would have turned up like record of money/credit card use. Maybe she went into the WTC thinking that she would help people coming out injured. My theory is she went inside and told people she was a doctor and maybe a firefighter or cop overheard her and that took her up a few stories to help out with some injured people but the building ended up collapsing and killing her.

[browneyes106]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

I recently read info that she was thought to have gone to help the 9/11 victims (she was a doctor) without leaving word to anyone, then subsequently died and was never ID'd. It seems like her husband had accepted this theory, but of course, I can't remember. I need to look it up again.

When she first went missing, I assumed that it was completely unrelated to the 9/11 attacks and that she had been abducted on 9/10. The huge confusion of 9/11 in NY just made it impossible for investigators to focus on her disappearance.

Personally, I'm undecided on what happened to her, except that I definitely do not believe that she left willingly.

I thought about that too. I bet at the time of 9/11 other crimes and disappearances in the city probably didn't get enough focus or attention because of the attacks. I haven't seen the segment of her in awhile. I kind of remember it being mentioned that her husband or family hired a private investigator.

[TracyLynnS]

I think at one point, her husband said that she would often stay over night with other people. He worked the night shift that night, but I don't know if he worked the night shift every night.

He said that when she stayed overnight with other people, her habit was to come home between 7am and 9am.

Their apartment was about 4 blocks from the WTC. I don't know if she would have walked home from the friend's place, or take a cab. Maybe as she was walking home from the friend's place, the attack on the towers happend and one of the buildings collapsed on her. (It wasn't just the two tallest towers that collapsed, but other nearby buildings fell, and rubble from the collapses of the bigger buildings caused other objects to be tossed around, making them deadly to people on the ground.)

So, imo, she could have been walking home from the friend's house, or even was in a cab, near the WTC, when the buildings fell and she was killed. Or she could have been on her way home near the buildings when the first one was attacked, and at that time she decided she would try to help, then the second building was attacked. Soon, the buildings fell and she was killed. Just a theory....

But, even if she had been planning on leaving her husband, as has been widely suggested, and then the attacks offered her a convenient way to get lost in the confusion, I think she would have left him a note at home stating that she was going down there to see if she could help victims. I don't think she would have left her apartment to help victims, legitimately or otherwise without leaving a note.

I'm going to bump up the other thread on this that has the most info. There's a lot of stuff in there on all sides of the issue. Very interesting stuff.

[sprinkles]

With 9/11 this past week, I was reminded of Sneha. I remember seeing this postcard when it was on Post Secret. At the time I didn't think too much about it, but now I can't help but wonder if it's Sneha's secret...

Edit: The picture didn't post for some reason, unfortunately! The postcard says, "Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I'm dead."

[Necco]

Originally Posted by sprinkles

With 9/11 this past week, I was reminded of Sneha. I remember seeing this postcard when it was on Post Secret. At the time I didn't think too much about it, but now I can't help but wonder if it's Sneha's secret...

Edit: The picture didn't post for some reason, unfortunately! The postcard says, "Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I'm dead."

There's a documentary theatre project coming out about this post card. Dr. Sneha is one of the people listed on the project's website.
http://www.everyonewhoknew.com/

[88keys]

Originally Posted by Necco

There's a documentary theatre project coming out about this post card. Dr. Sneha is one of the people listed on the project's website.
http://www.everyonewhoknew.com/

That is really fascinating! So is this article. Apologies if it's already been posted. http://nymag.com/news/features/17336/index1.html

[88keys]

This should be the correct image. I wonder if this is a real postcard or just something the documentary people made up to launch their project?



If it is legit, I wonder if they could compare a sample of Sneha's handwriting to it.

[Necco]

It was a legit submission sent into PostSecret YEARS ago. I can find internet references to it going back to at least 2006 and that was talking about it being seen in a book a while before that. So it was pretty early on in the PostSecret project which launched, online at least, January 1, 2005.

Now, whether or not it was true is a whole other issue. I do wonder about the addressed side of the postcard, but the side shown is printed, I think, it looks like a font to me.

[Nickolas086]

Could it really be true that she did die on September 10th or in the early morning of September 11th before the tragedy happen?

[tarheelslim]

At this point, I feel like she most likely did die at the WTC.

It's been so many years and no evidence that she lived (or was murdered) has surfaced.

The one mystery to me is why the woman she was with the night before has never come forward. The only explanation I can come up with for that is that she could have been having an affair with Sneha and didn't want that to be revealed.

[LilMissKryssy]

It honestly bothers me that there is no trace of her (credit card, phone call) after she left the shop on September 10th. Why wouldn't the friend she spent the night come forward and say she was with her? Especially after the 9/11 attacks. Not one friend, family member, acquaintance, coworker has ever come forward and said "Yes, she spent the night with me on the 10th". I think even an affair would've come out by now, especially after the attacks the next day and her family was scrambling to find her. I think most people would've admitted to it to help find her given the gravity of the 9/11 attacks. I'm also sure if she was having an affair (lesbian or straight) it would've come out by now. People talk and it's been years. I'm sure her husband and family would have appreciated the closure at least by confirming she was safe and well Monday night and then was killed in the attacks on 9/11. Again, it just really bothers me that nobody has come forward to say she was with them the night of the 10th. Wouldn't this friend or lover be concerned for her welfare on 9/11 and have went searching for her in the days, weeks after the attacks? It doesn't make much sense to me.

[88keys]

Originally Posted by Nickolas086

Could it really be true that she did die on September 10th or in the early morning of September 11th before the tragedy happen?

It's possible. It's also possible that she took off during the night of Sept 10th. Maybe that's why she bought some new things but never took them home. She was leaving to start a new life somewhere else. Or maybe she was just going to stay with a friend for a few days, but when she saw what happened on 9/11, she decided that it would be a good chance to make a clean break from all the drama in her life.