EP. 215 - NEW YORK: The Unsolved Murders Of 9/11

Summary

Murder in America – EP. 215: NEW YORK: The Unsolved Murders Of 9/11

Podcast by Bloody FM
Hosts: Courtney Shannon & Colin Browen
Episode Date: September 12, 2025

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Episode Overview

This powerful episode of Murder in America dives into three unsolved cases from New York that were overshadowed by the chaos of September 11, 2001. Hosts Courtney and Colin explore the disappearances and deaths of Dr. Sneha Philip, Henrik Siviak, and Michelle Harris, victims whose mysteries remain unsolved amid the disaster and whose stories demand to be remembered alongside the thousands lost in the 9/11 attacks.

The hosts approach each victim’s life with nuance—offering not just details of tragedy and suspicion, but celebrating their ambitions, humanity, and the enduring pain left for families seeking justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction: The Forgotten Victims of 9/11

• Context: The episode opens with a somber reminder that, while 9/11 became synonymous with national tragedy, other crimes and disappearances occurred simultaneously in New York and were overshadowed by the disaster response.
• Purpose: To shine a light on three unresolved cases—those of Sneha Philip, Henrik Siviak, and Michelle Harris—demonstrating how justice was delayed or denied because resources and attention were diverted.

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Case 1: The Disappearance of Dr. Sneha Philip

Timestamps: 04:43–59:41

Background & Life Story

• Born in Kerala, India, Sneha’s name means “one who brings love” (04:43).
• Immigrated to the U.S. at age 4 with her medical professional family.
• Described as bright, vivacious, artistically gifted; excelled at Johns Hopkins, later studying in Seattle and Chicago, where she met her future husband, Ron Lieberman.
• The couple settled in Battery Park City, Manhattan—four blocks from the World Trade Center (16:23).

Struggles & Complications

• Career difficulties: Issues at Cabrini Medical Center; allegations of drinking, unpreparedness, and inappropriate conduct (21:08).
  • Notable Quote:

    “She just seemed troubled, unhappy at times, a little bit of a loner.” – Dr. E, supervisor ([21:08])

• Disciplinary action, substance issues, and a strained marriage complicated her personal and professional life.
• On June 21, 2001, Sneha accused a superior of sexual assault, but later recanted. The circumstances remain ambiguous. She faced harassment and trespassing charges (25:29).
• Despite friction in her marriage (including possible infidelity), she took up a new internship at St. Vincent’s but was put on probation due to missing substance counseling (27:01).

Timeline Leading to Disappearance

• Last seen by husband Ron on Sept 10 after a courthouse appearance. They argued, made up, and he left for work after “kiss[ing] her again. And that was the last time I saw her.” – Ron Lieberman ([28:27])
• Sneha spent Sept 10 running errands, chatting with her mother, and shopping at Century 21 near the World Trade Center. She was last seen on store security cameras at around 5:09pm (44:48).
• On the morning of 9/11, a mysterious phone call was made from their apartment at 4:00am; it’s unclear who made it (29:51).
• Security footage from the next morning shows a woman resembling Sneha leaving the apartment just before the first plane hit (47:33).

Investigation, Theories, and Family’s Quest for Answers

• Initial police theory: Sneha died as a civilian hero in the WTC collapse, possibly rushing to help as an off-duty doctor. This story gained traction after her brother told the media a white lie to get her search publicized (41:31).
• No definitive evidence put her at the towers; belongings left behind suggest she planned to return home (45:56).
• Theories surfaced that she left intentionally, met foul play, or was one of the unidentified 9/11 dead.
• Official removal from the victims list in 2004 due to lack of evidence and implication of “risky behavior”—sparked controversy and family distress (52:00).
• After appeals, in 2008, Sneha’s name was restored, and she is memorialized on panel S66 of the 9/11 Memorial.
  • Notable Quote:

    “Her bedroom at her parents’ house in Poughkeepsie remains exactly how it was the day she vanished—decorated with photos, diplomas, and memories.” ([56:20])

Lasting Mystery

• Even those closest to her are divided:

  • “She finally got what she wanted. She got away. ... She was so incredibly smart that if she wanted something to happen, she could make it happen.” – Dr. E ([58:50])

• Unanswered: Was Sneha a victim of 9/11, or did she use chaos to disappear?

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Case 2: The Murder of Henrik Siviak

Timestamps: 60:25–79:49

Background & Immigration Story

• Polish immigrant; devoted family man, worked in NYC to support his wife and children back in Poland ([63:55]).
• Driven by love and necessity, he performed grueling manual labor and dreamed of building a house for his family.

Events of 9/11 & His Fate

• Witnessed the attacks, called his family to say he was safe ([68:18]).
• Needed to earn wages, accepted a late-night cleaning job via a Polish temp agency in Brooklyn.
• Due to a misunderstanding in directions from his landlady, ended up in Bedford-Stuyvesant (“Bed-Stuy”) after dark—a high-crime area made more chaotic by 9/11 ([71:12]).

The Murder

• Seen wandering, lost, and being followed by three men ([73:41]).
• Shot at 11:40pm, collapses on a doorstep, his job slip still in his hand ([74:52]).
• Police resources were stretched thin; crime scene processing and investigation minimal.
• No robbery motive—belongings weren't touched.
• His family, left devastated, believes he was “the last man killed on 9/11,” yet his murder was lost amid the larger tragedy ([75:57], [78:23]).

Lingering Injustice

• No suspects, little evidence, and even less media attention or police resources.
• Family continues to remember Henrik, while Lucina, his sister, attends memorial services on every anniversary.
  • Notable Quote:

    “Each year, on the anniversary of his death, [Lucina] travels to a memorial at St Patrick’s Cathedral. ... Just as Henrik was, she’s nudged aside by the city’s greater loss.” ([78:23])

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Case 3: The Disappearance of Michelle Harris

Timestamps: 79:49–110:41

Background & Domestic Turmoil

• Michelle married to wealthy car dealer Cal Harris—image of “the perfect life” quickly deteriorated into a controlling, abusive dynamic ([80:24]).
• Cal’s infidelity and emotional abuse prompts Michelle to plan for divorce and a fresh start ([83:33]).
  • Notable Quote:

    “Abusers often use a tactic called Love Bombing … It’s a very strategic way of locking people into a relationship before they show their true nature.” – Courtney ([81:19])

The Disappearance

• Sept 11, 2001: Michelle ends her shift at Lefty’s Restaurant, visits boyfriend Brian Early, and is believed to have returned home around 11pm ([88:15]).
• On the morning of Sept 12, Cal calls the nanny, claiming Michelle didn’t return home; her car is found at the end of the driveway with valuables inside ([90:06]).
• Cal is unemotional, more concerned about cleaning the car than finding his wife ([91:03]).

Investigation Hampered by 9/11

• Massive police presence in NYC left local agencies severely understaffed ([93:08]). Only a marginal search could be conducted.
• Cal points blame at Michelle's lovers, but attention is quickly drawn to his suspicious behavior and troubling statements about making her disappear ([97:48]).
• Blood spatter is found in the family home, but with no body, the evidence is circumstantial and much of the investigation delayed ([97:10]).

The Decade-Long Quest for Justice

• Cal is tried multiple times for murder—convicted twice, freed twice, with a hung jury and then finally acquitted in a bench trial ([104:20]).
  • Notable evidence involved a witness who may have seen Michelle the morning after she was supposed to be dead, and possible alternative suspects (Stacy Stewart and Christopher Thomason) who fled the state ([105:50], [108:07]).
• Michelle’s family devastated; her four children grow up without answers or closure.
  • Notable Quote:

    “Every holiday, every birthday, an empty seat is left at the table, hoping Michelle will join them, even if just in spirit.” ([108:07])

• In 2025, Cal offers a $100,000 reward for any leads.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On tragedy amid tragedy:

  “They may not have been victims of the Tower’s collapse, but they were no less affected by the madness and horror of 9/11.” – Courtney ([01:37])

• On the complexity of Sneha’s life:

  “Sneha is all the things we’ve said. Brilliant, loving, wonderful, warm. But at the same time she could be the other things we’re about to hear. And that’s okay. That doesn’t diminish her worth…” – Colin ([19:18])

• The power of overshadowed loss:

  “His name appeared in a few newspaper stories, but those who remember him best are his family. ... Just as Henrik was, she’s nudged aside by the city’s greater loss.” – Colin ([78:23])

• On children’s suffering:

  “They were left parentless, only able to see him for one hour visitations … they were forced to wonder if their father was a monster who had taken their mother’s life.” – Courtney ([108:07])

• On commemorating the forgotten victims:

  “Let us not forget the names of Dr. Sneha Philip, Henrik Siviak and Michelle Harris. They too were loved by all who knew them and their names will live on forever as long as we never forget their stories.” – Courtney ([110:41])

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Segment Timestamps

• Case 1: Dr. Sneha Philip – [04:43] to [59:41]
• Case 2: Henrik Siviak – [60:25] to [79:49]
• Case 3: Michelle Harris – [79:49] to [110:41]
• Closing reflections and memorial dedication – [110:41] to [111:28]

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Tone & Approach

The episode is somber, empathetic, and deeply respectful, combining true crime narration, sensitive handling of victims’ personal histories, and critical examination of police failures and media neglect. Both hosts use evocative language while integrating direct quotations and transcripts of key statements that preserve the voices of those affected.

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Conclusion

Through careful storytelling and in-depth research, Murder in America honors the lives lost in the shadows of one of the nation’s darkest days—reminding listeners that even amid catastrophe, individual tragedies matter. The episode closes with a reminder to donate to Tuesday’s Children and to never forget the overlooked victims of 9/11.

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If you have information about any of these open cases, or want to support the families, refer to the details shared in the episode and official resources.

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For complete background, context, or personal reflections, listening to the episode is highly recommended.

Transcript

[Courtney Brown]

At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your [e-mail] Running.

[Colin Brown]

Your sausage McMuffin with egg didn't change your receipt did the sausage McMuffin with egg extra value meal includes a hash brown and a small coffee for just $5 only at McDonald's for a limited time. Prices and participation may vary. Olivia loves a challenge. It's why she lifts heavy weights and likes complicated recipes. But for booking her trip to Paris, Olivia chose the easy way with Expedia. She bundled her flight with a hotel to save more of climbed all 674 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You were made to take the easy route. We were made to easily package your trip. Expedia made to travel flight inclusive packages are ator protected Warning the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

[Courtney Brown]

Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.

[Colin Brown]

This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

[Courtney Brown]

On the morning of September 11, 2001, millions of Americans watched in horror as commercial planes struck the World Trade center that morning. Fire and steel rained down upon the heads of Manhattan citizens, and they all ran from the clouds of smoke and debris. But others rushed into the devastation, desperate to help those trapped in the horror that had unleashed itself upon New York City and beyond. Across the nation, military and rescue workers braced themselves for more attacks, and New York's first responders launched the greatest rescue efforts of their lives. Many would not survive the day. Yet beyond the collapse of the Twin Towers, other tragedies unfolded in the shadows eclipsed by the greater chaos occurring in New York City, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Families of missing loved ones were left to search for answers, though not all of them were lost to the Twin Towers on that fateful day. As it turns out, evil does not stop for any crisis, no matter how devastating. And so this is The Tale of Three Mysteries. Three cases that went cold beneath the shadows of 911 from a doctor who vanished without a trace to a murder without a culprit, and finally, a mother who never saw her children again. These three cases went without a resolution, their families forced to go on without closure. And though they were not directly caused by the 911 attacks. The investigations of these victims were hindered by the intense rescue efforts occurring night and day. They may not have been victims of the tower's collapse, but they were no less affected by the madness and horror of 9 11, a day that we are reminded to never forget. So let's remember together. I'm Courtney Brown.

[Colin Brown]

And I'm Colin Browen and you're listening.

[Courtney Brown]

To Murder in America.

[Colin Brown]

The fact that Sneha Phillips was even in New York City in September of 2001 is both a miracle and a tragedy. A twist of fate made by millions, billions of choices and chances. Sneha's story doesn't begin in New York or Even in the US her story takes us nearly 9,000 miles away onto the white sand beaches of the Malabar Coast. Looking out over the Indian Ocean, Kerala, India, is one of the most breathtaking and inspiring places on Earth. There you'll find thousands of miles of sandy palm lined coastline and even more miles of canals that wind through the interior of the area. Between the waterways, spice and tea plantations dot the evergreen mountains, giving the landscape a tropical, almost otherworldly feel. It was here, in this beautiful place that ansu Philip and Dr. Philip K. Philip welcomed their daughter into the world. Sneha Ann Phillips was born on October 7, 1969, into a family who adored her the moment they laid eyes on her. Her name, which is common in Kerala, roughly translates to one who brings love. And if you ask many of the people who knew Sneha, they'll tell you that there couldn't have been a better name for her. From a young age, Sneha was bright, friendly, gregarious, and above all, kind. She matched the energy and warmth of her native Kerala. But she wouldn't spend long there. In 1973, when she was four years old, her father, a radiologist, won a visa lottery for doctors, allowing her, her mother and her oldest brother, Ashwin to immigrate to the United States. It was a major choice made quite literally by the luck of the draw, one of many that would lead Sneha to become one of the greatest mysteries of one of the most tragic days in American history.

[Courtney Brown]

Adjusting to that American life wasn't easy. Initially, Sneha didn't speak the language her brother Ashwin recalls. When we moved to the United States, Sneha and I were the only people our age who we knew could understand us. Since we didn't speak English, I can honestly say that she was the only person that understood me and vice versa for the early years of our lives. End quote. And that kind of connection was the foundation for the rest of their lives. Sneha's understanding of her brother and her motherly nature led Ashwin to refer to her as chichi, a term meaning older sister, despite the fact that she was actually 13 months younger than him. But in this brave new world, Sneha, who was bold and brave even at a young age, guided her older brother and made him feel right at home. And soon, the family welcomed another child, John, who also relished in his sister's caring nature. In a 2011 interview, he reminisced, I was younger than her. She would smother me with affection and baby me. She would constantly play with my ears, and I would tell her to stop. I was always trying to show my independence, but I was always her baby. My mother always told me that she treated me as if I was her own baby. She loved me and always made me feel smart and handsome. She believed in me more than anyone in my life, and she understood who I was. She always accepted me the way that I was, end quote. And that was the case for everyone. Sneha accepted people as they were. But as you'll see, it seems she had trouble in her later life extending herself that same grace.

[Colin Brown]

But throughout her teenage years, Sneha seemed to be confident in who she was and what she liked. Her brothers remembered that she loved to dance, often dragging them into the family room, where she would play Beatles records and urge them to dance alongside her. She was pure energy. It's who she was and what she loved. When she threw herself into the world of art, she wasn't the type to worship Rembrandt or Beethoven. She loved music and paintings that showcased what she loved about the world, the mass and beauty and color of it all. Jackson Pollock, famous for his frenetic action paintings, was her favorite painter. She had posters of Duran Duran and Billy Idol lining her childhood bedroom. When she wasn't listening to or looking at energetic art, she was creating it. She played the flute and the piano and took to painting and writing. As her main forms of expression, they are the cornerstones of who she was as a person, cornerstones that many believe only add to the mystery of what happened to her in 2001. Because though Sneha loved art and was an artist at heart, those close to her suggest that there was a push from her family to pursue another medicine.

[Courtney Brown]

In 1987, she graduated from Emma Willard, one of the highest ranking private schools in New York. The excellent grades and education she received there allowed her to get into John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Now you'll likely recognize that name, and for good reason. John Hopkins is consistently the top ranked medical school in the country and their acceptance rate hovers around 5%, making it as competitive as schools like Harvard. But that competition didn't seem to bother Sneha, her former classmate at John Hopkins, Natalie Pompilio, recalled, I remember her as vivacious and smart, someone who drew people to her. Schneeha was so loved that when she joined a sorority, she became one of the most popular members, serving as the treasurer and making many long lasting friendships. But she didn't just excel socially, she did academically too. When she graduated in 1991 from her pre med courses, she did so with honors, and soon after she was off to Seattle, where she expanded on her love of art while attending the University of Washington.

[Colin Brown]

Now, if you know anything about Seattle in the 90s, the word grunge probably comes to mind. The rain slicked city was a hub for counterculture drawing artists of all types from across the United States and the world, and Sneha was in the middle of it. Living in the neighborhood of Capitol Hill, known for its venues and bars frequented by up and coming grunge bands and for its LGBTQ friendly atmosphere, Sneha fit right in. The boyfriend of her roommate at the time recalls that Sneha was cool, but not cool in the way that many transplants were. Some people moved to Seattle to feel better about themselves, to play the part of a brooding artist or a misunderstood character. But he remembers Sneha as warm, friendly, easy to talk to, and funny. When she wasn't at school, she was going to underground raves and dancing until the sun came up. And she wasn't alone. She had a good group of friends, and her brother John briefly moved to the city with her, enjoying seeing his sister flourish in her newfound freedom. But soon, through the haze of Capitol Hill and the pounding drum and bass, her career began to call her.

[Courtney Brown]

That call led her to the Chicago Medical School in 1994, where she aimed to finish her degree. But there was something else she found there, something she didn't even know she was looking for. In 1995, into one of her classes walked a tall, long haired Jewish boy from California and just laying eyes on him, she knew she had found her kindred spirit. Like we mentioned, Sneha was an artist at heart. Despite her pursuing a path to be a doctor day in and day out, she was surrounded by analytical minds, statistics and high stake procedures and tests. But when that man walked into her classroom, she saw something different. Another artist. His name was Ron Lieberman, an aspiring emergency physician from the Los Angeles area who was a musician in every sense of the word. Ron composed his own songs, he played guitar, and he performed anywhere he could, even with his busy schedule. And soon after walking into that classroom, his schedule got even busier because he fell head over heels for Sneha Phillips. There are certain people that you meet.

[Colin Brown]

In your life who just you connect with so strongly. And right away, we knew. And basically inseparable since the first day we met.

[Courtney Brown]

The two fell in love over long nights, talking about music and art, trying to keep up with their rigorous curriculum, and slipping away from their responsibilities for sushi and jazz music whenever the opportunity arose. But it didn't take long for their romance to blossom into something serious, Something that was much, much more than just a college fling. Things were so passionate between the two that since Ran was a year behind her, Sneha decided to take the year off from school so they could graduate at the same time. While Ron caught up, Sneha got herself an apartment in Florence, Italy, and moved abroad for several months. There, the love she felt for both Ron and life in general grew. She painted every day, ate luxurious food, listened to music, and she indulged in all of the things she didn't have time for while she was in school. According to friends, she contemplated if she even wanted to go back to medicine or if she wanted to travel and try her hand at being an artist full time. But by the time Ron visited her in 1997, it seems she had made her decision. After a romantic vacation exploring the streets of Florence, Ron led Sneha out into a balcony overlooking the city. There, he got down on one knee, looked the love of his life in the eye, and asked her to marry him. Sneha, overjoyed, told him yes. And shortly after, the two were back in Chicago, graduating hand in hand and looking towards a bright future together. With a romance that led them from India to Los Angeles to Chicago to Florence, the two could have ended up anywhere in the world as they embarked on their next adventure, their residency program, now a residency program, is where doctors who have recently graduated practice medicine for the first time under the supervision of experienced doctors. They are carefully monitored, given guidance, and, unfortunately, they often have the limits of their stress tested. The hours are long and relentless, with every intern clocking in over 40 hours a week, some up to 80 hours a week. Their schedules often change from daytime to nighttime shifts at the drop of a hat, leading to a high level of stress and burnout. But that's precisely part of the reason why Schneeha and Ron were so thrilled to be assigned to New York City for their residencies. Sneha's family was just a little over an hour away, which offered them support as they struggled through their tough educational period. Ron settled at Jacoby Medical center in the Bronx, where he pursued emergency medicine, and Sneha landed at the Cabrini Medical center in Manhattan. It was a stressful, albeit exciting time. If you're already stressed and excited, why not throw a wedding into the mix?

[Colin Brown]

In May of 2000, Sneha and Ron stepped into a fairy tale. Their stunning, multicultural ceremony was held at the Duchess County Inn near where Sneha had grown up. The night prior, Sneha sat with her closest loved ones as her hands and feet were painted with intricate henna designs. During her Mehendi ceremony, a traditional ceremony meant to symbolize good fortune and to ward off evil. With her friends and family, she did what she loved to do the most. She danced and sang and swapped stories with the most important people in her life. She was a picture of beauty, and in the videos and photos of her wedding the next day, it's clear that she was in a state of pure bliss. She wore a glorious white wedding dress with traditional Indian jewelry, including a gold mang tika, jewels that rest on the center of a woman's forehead just below the hairline. And during the ceremony, she receives even more jewelry. Ron gently ties a beautiful gold teardrop shaped necklace called a minu around her neck, her eyes flecked with happy tears. The tying of the necklace is meant to symbolize the inseparable bond between the husband and wife. Watching the two exchange vows and share a soft, sweet kiss, it's impossible not to feel the strength of that bond. Ron went even further to express his feelings, composing a song just for her titled wow. She's so Great, which he had the jazz band at their wedding surprise her with. Still buzzing from the joy of their union, the two moved into a one bedroom apartment at 225 Rector Place in Battery Park City, just four blocks from the World Trade Center.

[Courtney Brown]

For a while, everything about their new life as husband and wife was bliss. Though their hours were demanding, forcing them to spend much of their time apart, they seemed to indulge in the time that they spent together. They frequently made the trek to Greenwich Village, where they'd float from lounge to lounge, listening to jazz music and sipping on cocktails together to brush off their stress. During their rare nights at home, they would snuggle their kittens and watch movies, or they would work on their different art projects. Ron continued to play guitar, and Sneha continued to paint when she could. From the outside, everything seemed perfect. They were in their late 20s, married, on their way to wealth, living the jobs of their dreams while residing in one of the most incredible cities on earth in a luxury apartment just a stone throws away from the World Trade Center. For a lot of people, they couldn't have a more perfect life. But as we've seen throughout this podcast, looks can be deceiving because beneath their seemingly perfect life, there were secrets, struggles and failures, all of which would be on display for the world in the aftermath of the couple's greatest tragedy.

[Colin Brown]

Sneha and Philip was a lot of a genius, an artist, kind, giving, hardworking, and at the same time, deeply troubled. Some called her manipulative, irresponsible. Some claimed she was hypersexual, blunt, inappropriate. Since the dawn of time in our stories, we as humans have liked to have a hero and a villain, a saint and a sinner, an underdog and an oppressor. As we dive into this next chapter of Snehaha's life, it's important to remember that she isn't a character in a story. She was a multifaceted person living her life as best as she could. We feel it's important to talk about what happened to her, not judgmentally, but accurately. Sneha is all the things we've said. Brilliant, loving, wonderful, warm. But at the same time she could be the other things we're about to hear. And that's okay. That doesn't diminish her worth or everything that she worked for. Sometimes life is hard, and sometimes tragedy strikes when life's already at its hardest.

[Courtney Brown]

In spring of 2001, Sneha's promising medical career began to crumble around her. John Walkzak developed a podcast, Missing on 9 11, where he did in depth research and interviews with some of the people who knew Sneha. That includes one of her supervisors, Dr. E. At Cabrini Medical center from 2000 to May of 2001, when Sneha was effectively fired. Dr. E claims in that podcast that throughout Sneha's time at Cabrini, it was very clear that she was struggling. Week by week, her dedication deteriorated and she began to act inappropriately. Here are some clips from the podcast giving some insight into how at least one of Sneha's supervisors perceived her.

[Dr. E]

She seemed troubled during her time with me. She just seemed troubled, unhappy at Times, you know, a little bit of a loner, I would say.

[Colin Brown]

What was her personality like? Like if she were to walk into the room and start speaking with you, what was she like?

[Dr. E]

Outspoken sometimes. Using curse words. You know, a little outspoken. Sometimes you get the feeling that it was for shock value. She wasn't always into her work is the feeling that I got.

[Colin Brown]

What do you mean by that?

[Dr. E]

She would show up not prepared to work is what I would say. Not prepared to work and didn't do her homework in order to do her work. I witnessed alcohol in her breath on one occasion and had to send her home. Only one time that occasion was regarding alcohol. Other occasions were just really ill prepared.

[Courtney Brown]

According to Dr. E and court records, Snehal was struggling with drinking on the job and she had an uninterested attitude when it came to her work. It was clear to her and her co workers that Sneha's mind was somewhere else and that in their opinion, she didn't even want to be there.

[Colin Brown]

Did you get the feeling that she wanted to be a doctor?

[Dr. E]

Absolutely not. She did not. And actually she had voiced it to me on many occasions. Kind of felt pushed into it. Maybe there's some other social pressures, family pressures, I'm not sure. But she kind of felt pushed into it and didn't feel it was a good fit for her. She's more on the artistic side.

[Colin Brown]

Whatever was happening, whether she wanted to be a doctor or not, it was clear that Sneha was struggling. But according to Dr. E, it wasn't just her workload and drinking that made her a problem at Cabrini. It was her behavior towards her co workers and superiors. On more than one occasion, Sneha was asked to leave the office because she, quote, exhibited inappropriate sexual behavior towards attending physicians. At one point in her interview, Dr. E described these as isolated incidents, but more than one. In addition, though Dr. E refused to give details, she disclosed to John that Sneha had made sexual advances on both her and her ex husband who worked in the same department. As a result of this behavior and her performance in May, Cabrini allowed Sneha's contract to expire, refusing to renew it for interns in their residency. This is effectively being fired. Dr. E expressed that even though Sneha was not given an opportunity to come back and she had some of these rather negative views of her, she still really liked her. Even in her darkest moments. While she was making poor choices, Sneha was hard for the people around her to truly dislike.

[Courtney Brown]

Now you would think that this would be the end of Sneha's story at Cabrini. But that's not the case. Even though they allowed her contract to expire in May, she still had to work until that contract ended, which was at the end of June 2001. But there was an incident that would occur around this time that changed everything. On the night of June 21, Sneha went to a bar near Cabrini with several of her co workers. And according to court records, Sneha alleged that a male superior followed her into the bathroom at a bar, pushed himself against her, trying to kiss her against her will. Sneha managed to escape. But what happened after is chaotic, to say the least. After this incident, Sneha reportedly barged into her supervisor's apartment, refusing to leave. Now, it's worth noting that the two did live at the same apartment complex and on the same floor, which adds some context into why she was there and how she knew where he lived. After the police were called, Sneha told them about the supposed incident in the bathroom at the bar. The two were separated for the night. But the conflict didn't stop there. Sneha ended up calling her co worker's wife several times. Then she called her co worker repeatedly at work. In her final call, she left a message saying, if you don't want to speak to me, I'm going to fuck you up when I see you in the street. End quote.

[Colin Brown]

But on June 26, Sneha recanted her statement to law enforcement, claiming that she wasn't actually sexually assaulted. We feel it's important to note that we don't and probably will never know the truth of this incident. Was Sneha pushed into recanting her statement, or did it actually never happen, and the whole conflict was fueled by something else entirely? Regardless, police felt like they had more than enough evidence, and the doctor involved in the incident decided to press charges. Sneha was initially charged with one count of criminal trespassing, one count of third degree assault, one count of falsely reporting an incident, three counts of second degree harassment, and two counts of second degree aggravated harassment. In total, she spent just one night in jail before she and her husband Ron, hired an attorney to handle her case. But as you can see, things were not going well for her. Unfortunately, by all accounts, it wasn't just within her career. It was in her marriage as well. According to her husband and others, Sneha would frequently stay out at bars late into the night and spend the night with people she had met there. Often, she would meet women at popular lesbian bars in Greenwich and go home with them. Though in one interview, Ron claimed that she simply went with these women to work on art with them, not for any sexual reasons. However, in other interviews with police, he has stated that there was indeed infidelity in their relationship. We'll dive back into this supposed infidelity later, because it wasn't until after 911 that it really came to light.

[Courtney Brown]

But even in all of this chaos, Snehal was still trying to work towards her future. She even landed herself another internship, this time at St. Vincent's Medical center on Staten Island. But due to her previous behavior, she was ordered to attend substance abuse counseling sessions. But after not showing up for them, she was put on probation, meaning she could go to work. But she was suspended from the majority of her duties in order to preserve patient safety. Because of this, her workload slowly diminished, and on September 10, 2001, she found herself with three days off in a row. Unfortunately, that morning, on her first day off, she had a big task to overcome. Her first court appearance for the incident on June 21. Now, little information is available about what happened in the courthouse, but on the front steps of that courthouse, she and her husband Ron reportedly got into a heated argument. Over what, we don't know. But given the nature of the offense, it's not surprising that there would be some tension. The two returned to their apartment after the argument, and according to Ron, they made up at least enough to kiss goodbye. Kissed her. I told her I loved her and I left. Luckily, I left my keys at home.

[Colin Brown]

So I went back and I got.

[Courtney Brown]

To kiss her again. And that was the last time that I saw her.

[Colin Brown]

From there, Ron went back to work, completely unaware that in less than 24 hours, both the city that he loved and the life that he lived were going to look completely different. But for Sneha, it seems that they already did. She spent the morning cleaning the apartment to prepare for her cousin, who was due to visit later in the week. In spite of the stressful morning, there was a moment of light. She repotted four purple and white orchids that she had just ordered from Hawaii. She then set them in the bathtub to dry out, and in between tasks, chatted with her mother. According to Sneha's mom, everything was completely ordinary. She was excited to talk about Ron's recent musical performance at a party over the weekend, and mentioned plans to check out Windows on the World, a venue in the north tower of the World Trade center, where a friend's wedding would be held in the coming spring. By 4pm, after two hours of catching up with her mom, Sneha ended the conversation saying she needed to run errands. Dressing in a brown short sleeved dress and sandals, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and left the apartment with Ron's American Express card in hand. She left the rest of her cards, including her driver's license, behind and walked out of the apartment complex waving goodbye to the doorman. Sometime around 5pm, when Ron returned home.

[Courtney Brown]

Close to midnight, exhausted after a 12 hour shift, he was surprised to find their apartment empty aside from the couple's two kittens. Now, as we've covered, it wasn't unusual for Sneha to spend entire nights away from the apartment, and often these excursions were completely innocent. At the end of the day, Sneha didn't like being alone. So oftentimes if Ron was working late, she would go to her brother John's, who lived just a few blocks away. Sometimes she would even stay the night there. Now remember, this is 2001. Not everyone had a cell phone, including Sneha. Because of this, she wasn't able to quickly text Ron telling her where she was or her plans for that night. And in general, people were a lot less connected than they are today. So when Ron didn't hear from her, he was more annoyed than he was worried. For a moment he thought about calling her brother John to check in, but he also knew that John and Sneha hadn't been talking. If Sneha went over there to reconcile, which she would have done, he didn't want to interrupt them. So with that, Ron curled into bed. He only had a few hours to sleep before his next shift at the medical center, and those hours would go by quickly. Now, something that is a bit of a question mark in this story is that on the morning of September 11th at 4am, a phone call was made from inside Ron and Sneha's apartment. To this day, the call has never been fully explained. In the beginning, Ron said that he didn't even remember taking the call. However, after some thinking, he said that he may have done it when he was half awake to check the voicemail on his cell phone. But nonetheless, a few hours later, when the sun rose over New York City on September 11, 2001, Ron opened his eyes to see that Sneha still hadn't come home. He later stated that when she did spend nights away, she would always come back between 7 and 9am but he didn't have time to wait around on her. He had a meeting at work at 8am so he got ready and he headed for the Bronx. As he ran to catch a subway, Ron decided that he would have to have a talk with Sneha later that day about staying out all night without calling him to let him know. It was a talk they had many times before, but hopefully this time, with everything going on, it would stick. Now, soon enough, Ron made it to work along with millions of other New Yorkers bustling their ways through the subways. It was essentially the calm before the storm. To everyone in New York and around the world, it was just an average day. But several thousand of those people, people that walked right past Ron, were unknowingly walking to their deaths in the World Trade Centers. Ron was on the other side of town for most of that morning. But as his boss droned on about hospital protocol just 15 miles away, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Holy.

[Colin Brown]

What the hell was that? Sound like a plane crash. Hey Beth, what is that? Something. Somebody hit the World Trade center or the Trade Center.

[Dr. E]

We want to tell you what we.

[Colin Brown]

Know as we know it, but we.

[Dr. E]

Just got a report in that there's been some sort of explosion at the.

[Colin Brown]

World Trade center in New York City. One report said, and we can't confirm.

[Dr. E]

Any of this that that a plane may have hit one of the two towers of the World Trade Center.

[Courtney Brown]

At first, no one had any idea what had happened. The news reports in the city itself were in utter chaos. When Ron emerged from the meeting and found his coworker staring at the TV wide eyed in horror, he asked what was going on. They explained that it must have been a horrible mistake. A plane that malfunctioned and lost altitude coming into LaGuardia. And even if it was just that, it was horrific, but the illusion that it was an accident was shattered. At 9:03am as the nation watched United Airlines Flight 175 slam into the South Tower.

[Colin Brown]

What's this other jet doing? What's this other jet doing? Holy fuck. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. That's our six, seven floors were taken out. And there's more explosions right now. Hold on. People are running. Hold on just a moment. We got an explosion inside. The building's exploding right now. You got people running up the street. Okay, what's going on?

[Courtney Brown]

Oh my God.

[Colin Brown]

Another plane has just hit. It hit another building, flew right into.

[Courtney Brown]

The middle of it.

[Colin Brown]

Explosion. So I got. It's right in the middle of the building.

[Courtney Brown]

And then soon after, the second tower went down in a Plume of fire, smoke and debris carrying thousands of innocent lives with it.

[Colin Brown]

The second building that was hit by the plane has just completely collapsed. The entire building has just collapsed, as if a demolition team set off. When you see the old demolitions of these old buildings, it folded down on itself and it is not there anymore. That should be it. Thanks very much. The whole side has collapsed. The whole building has collapsed. The whole building has collapsed. As Ron watched the catastrophe unfold, his instincts as a doctor took over. He and the others expected a flood of injured survivors to soon be pouring through the doors of Jacoby. At this point, no one had any idea that survivors were going to be hard to come by. In the panic, Ron called the apartment, trying to check in with Sneha to warn her to evacuate the apartment if she could. He assumed that his wife was safe. She was never really one to go to the towers in the way that all locals typically avoid tourist traps. He assumed maybe she was watching the coverage just like he was, or that the lines were tied up. Or maybe she had even gone to St. Vincent's in desperation to help save some of the victims.

[Courtney Brown]

By the time the North Tower collapsed, it became clear to Ron that there would be no survivors to treat. As he had been waiting for patients, he repeatedly called home, leaving messages on the answering machine urging Sneha to call him back. He hoped that his wife would return his call. But as the hours passed, his unease became outright fear. Finally, he reached out to family, hoping that they would ease his concerns. But their responses only deepened his panic. Sneha's mother hadn't spoken to her since the previous afternoon, and her brothers hadn't heard from her in days. Ron said his stomach sank. Sneha hadn't been at her brother's house the night before like he had assumed. And the possibilities began to gnaw at him. Was she caught in the chaos unfolding across the city? Or worse? Had something happened to her last night? Where was she last night? Unable to rest until he knew where his wife had gone, he hitched a ride with an ambulance headed towards Lower Manhattan. But the journey was agonizing. Roads were clogged with panicked crowds and debris. And what should have been a quick drive became a trip that almost lasted six hours. Six hours of passing. Panicked faces, debris, sobbing strangers, all watching in horror as their city was forever changed. By the time he reached Battery city park at 9pm his neighborhood was unrecognizable. Police barricades blocked every entrance. Overturned firetrucks and burning cars littered the streets. And choking smoke filled the air. Using his position as a doctor, he was able to push past the police tape. But he quickly found that entering his apartment was impossible. The power was out, so he wasn't even able to get the doors open. Despite his best efforts, Ron was forced to give up on trying to get into the apartment to find Sneha. So hoping against reason that she might be there, he finally turned away from the door. Exhausted and afraid, he walked to a friend's apartment nearby. He needed to get some sleep, but he was kept awake by the horror of today's events. And his missing wife.

[Colin Brown]

Waking up in New York on September 12 was awakening into a nightmare. Ron stumbled out into the streets, which looked as though they had been plucked out of an apocalyptic movie. He no longer recognized the neighborhood he called home. And when he finally made it to his apartment, he didn't recognize that either. Soot covered every inch of the apartment. The couple had left a window open to allow the cool fall air in, but instead it allowed clouds of toxic debris to settle on every surface. Analytic and desperate for answers, Ron searched the apartment for proof that Sneha had returned in his absence. He searched the dust for her footprints, but the only prints left were Figa and Qali's. The kittens mewed up at ran, their eyes shining out from their soot covered faces. Panic rising, Ron called out Sneha's name, searching every room and checking the answering machine. There was still no sign of his wife, and by that evening, he was on the streets with flyers in hand, desperate to find just one person who had seen her. Sadly, though, at the time, he wasn't alone. New York City was overflowing with people searching for those that they loved, and Ron was quickly swallowed up by the crowds. At the 911 Help center on Lexington Avenue, he saw news vans and cameras waiting to take stories from Manhattan residents. With these, his hopes were ignited, thinking that the media coverage might help spread Sneha's picture nationwide. But news crews quickly turned him away. Because she had technically vanished before the attacks, her story was not deemed newsworthy. They only wanted real stories of 9 11. In desperation, Ron called Sneha's brother John and told him to come down to the news crews. They had to figure out a way to get her name out there. John had an idea, one that, even in retrospect, neither of them regret. In an interview with NY Mag, Ron said, these types of lies, white lies, they're completely understandable. And if anyone else had a loved one missing in the chaos of 9 11. I suspect that they would do the same if it meant getting answers. When John walked up to the local news station, wabc, he then told a lie on camera on the phone with her. And she. And she told me that she was. She couldn't leave because there was. There was people who were hurt and laughing selfishly. I told her, come on, you know, just leave the building. And she said, no, I have to.

[Courtney Brown]

Help this person over here. And it's the last.

[Colin Brown]

Last thing I heard from her.

[Courtney Brown]

Snehal was no longer a missing person. She was a missing hero. John's version of events gained attention quickly. WABC ran with the story airing Sneha's photo alongside it. The news story gave Ron hope that someone would call in with information. But in the meantime, he turned to the police, filing two missing persons reports. Now, at the time he filed the reports, there were thousands of other grieving families doing the exact same thing. Every cop in every precinct of New York was cycling through duties at the Towers, helping pick through debris, closing off the streets and searching for any survivors. But Ron wasn't letting Sneha disappear quietly. He wasn't letting her disappear at all. Now, detectives had ruled that she had died in the Twin Towers, as Shneha had mentioned in passing that she wanted to eat at the restaurant at the top of the Towers. Her mentioning this led them to believe that she must have done just that on her day off work. But Ran was determined to find answers to him and Sneha's family. There was absolutely no conclusive evidence that she had even gone to the Towers that day.

[Colin Brown]

So Ron and her family launched their own investigation, starting with retracing Sneha's steps. He remembered that she had taken his American Express card, and so he contacted the bank. Charges on the card gave him his very first trail to follow. On the 10th, she had dropped off dry cleaning, then shopped at Century 21, a discount luxury store just two blocks from the World Trade Center. He hurried to find the store, only to find it shuttered in the aftermath of the terror attacks. Refusing to give up, Ron recruited a few of his friends to begin posting flyers at other century 21 locations across the city. And surprisingly, their efforts soon paid off. A clerk named Sonia Mora had relocated to Brooklyn after the disaster, but she recognized Sneha from the flyer. Sonia confirmed meeting Sneha in the store on the 10th and looking at a receipt, was able to confirm with Ron that she had bought bedsheets, lingerie, a dress, pantyhose, and three pairs of shoes. Sneha loved fashion. Honestly, love probably isn't even a strong enough word. Her brother John stated, quote, her truth was embedded in great empathy. Though she loved fashion and beautiful things, it was not for its vanity, but for its form. When she bought clothes, she appreciated the intricacies of the knit, the energy of the colors. That deep passion for clothes, combined with the fact that Sonya recognized Sneha as a regular customer, confirmed for Ron that he was on the exact right path. But then Sonia added something that didn't sound quite right. Snehaha hadn't been alone. She had been with a friend. A woman in her early 30s, shorter than Sneha and also of Indian descent. But Ron was confused. Sneha didn't have any friends matching that description, at least that he knew of. And after looking through her computer and their home phone, he knew that she hadn't contacted anyone on the 10th except for her mother and brother.

[Courtney Brown]

Needing answers, Ron requested to see the security footage. And although there were no cameras in the shoe department, he was able to view the footage from other areas of the store. For three weeks, Ron sat in the store's office combing through tapes. He must have felt that he was again at a dead end. Until finally he caught a glimpse of his wife browsing the coat department. She looked safe and healthy, but she appeared to be alone, at least as far as he could tell. The footage, which spans about five minutes in total, shows Sneha trying on coats. For about 20 minutes. She is off camera in the shoe department. Then at about 5.09pm, there is a woman matching Sneha's description walking out of the store with a bag in hand. Beside her, there is a shorter woman with black hair. To this day, it has never been confirmed if the woman in the footage leaving is Sneha. And if it is, who is the woman beside her?

[Colin Brown]

With no new leads and the WABC story failing to yield a witness, Ron became even more desperate. All over the city, missing persons flyers were disappearing day by day as more and more loved ones were confirmed to have been lost or found in the collapse of the towers. Believing that the detectives were a dead end, Ron hired a private investigator named Ken Gallant. Because of his background as an FBI special operations agent, Gallant seemed like the perfect fit to finally get Sneha and her family answers. Unfortunately, many of the answers he got weren't the ones her family wanted to hear. He interviewed family co workers and even ferry workers along the Hudson River. He hoped that one of them had seen Sneha escaping the destruction or Even if they had seen her being carried away on the 10th, deep dives of all her electronics yielded nothing new. No secret online relationships, no plans for a romantic rendezvous. Making matters even more confusing was the fact that although she never came home on the 10th, she had abandoned all of her essentials, as if she had been planning to come home. Her passport was on her desk, along with her driver's license, her credit cards, and perhaps the most damning, her glasses. According to Ron, Sneha had just run out of contacts and had been forced to use her worn out ones for a few days. One of the last times he saw her, her eyes were so irritated by the contacts that she ripped them out before they even reached home during a night out. If she was planning on leaving for an extended time, there's no way that she wouldn't have grabbed her glasses. At the very least.

[Courtney Brown]

But what if she had been home on the 11th? After weeks of investigation, law enforcement discovered security cameras in the apartment lobby that may have caught vital footage. At 8:45am, a woman resembling Sneha walks into the lobby. Now, the footage was completely washed out by the sunlight, offering only a blurry, overexposed silhouette of a woman. But regardless, she matched Snehaha's height, build, hairstyle and clothing. The woman crossed to the elevator, waited for a moment, and then she turned and left the building. If the security camera's time is correct, the first plane hit the North Tower just three minutes later. Two minutes after, the mystery woman walked out of the building into the bright sunshine. Now, the footage has never been publicly released, but when viewing it, Ron believed that he recognized his wife's mannerisms. But he was unable to confirm if it was her with any certainty because the footage was so washed out.

[Colin Brown]

The footage opened the possibility that the police had suspected all along Sneha had vanished on September 11, not the night before. Armed with this new lead, Ron began to put together a new scenario for what could have happened to his wife. The first of these is that someone had taken Sneha's life. But Ron couldn't believe that theory. He knew that in Manhattan, people didn't disappear in homicides. A body was bound to turn up. The killer's almost sure to leave clues. So another theory, one as tragic as it was disheartening, took root. Sneha had been only four blocks away from the World Trade center when the attacks began. As a trained doctor and compassionate person, unaware of how much more tragedy was on the horizon, Sneha may have raced towards the tower to offer Aid John's story, the one he had given to WABC News, may have been more correct than anyone had known. Ron began to formulate a theory, although a heartbreaking one, but one to him that made sense. While running errands on the 10th, she met a friend, went shopping and later had drinks. Expecting her husband to come home late that night and not wanting to be alone, she spent the evening with her friend. The next morning she returned at around 8:40, only to hear the first plane strike the North Tower. With her passion for saving lives drawing her towards the catastrophe, she rushed from the apartment building to help. When the towers collapsed, Sneha was trapped in the wreckage, perishing alongside thousands of others.

[Courtney Brown]

Now this theory depended on the fact that the woman in the lobby was in fact Sneha. But there was one detail that raised doubt in Dawn's mind. The woman hadn't been carrying any shopping bags. So if it was Sneha and she had bought so many things, including new sheets for their apartment, where had they gone? Regardless, after weeks of investigating and having their spirit broken over and over again, Ron and the Philip family accepted the heartbreaking conclusion. Their daughter, sister and wife had died offering life saving care to the victims and that her remains were now lost under 1.8 million tons of debris. The family had never wanted this result, but it made sense for the woman they knew. Accepting this ending to her life gave them the closure they desperately needed. And with the belief she had perished in the towers, they joined the community of grief that encompassed thousands of families. Ron ended up moving in with the Philip family so they could mourn together, away from the disaster that had taken the light of their lives from them. In 2002, they gathered at the Church of the Resurrection in Dutchess county to bury an urn filled with ashes from ground Zero. Sneha's name was read aloud at the 911 memorials and a plaque was placed at the Duchess Community College where her mother worked. The family was able to lean on their new community, finding comfort in the arms of thousands of other grieving families. But soon enough, that warmth, acceptance and love was snatched away from them. Behind the scenes, new information was unraveling and the story that the Philip family had come to accept about their daughter was threatened.

[Colin Brown]

In January of 2004, the Medical Examiner's office removed Sneha's name from the official list of victims, citing a lack of evidence that she had been alive on September 11th. That alone was devastating for the family. But the NYPD's report, which was used to determine that ruling proved to be even more devastating. It's a report that led to headlines, headlines like 911 tryst twist in the New York Post. Headlines that made the Phillips relive their grief and agony all over again. Officially, Sneha's name was removed from the official list of victims due to reported lack of evidence. However, it's hard to deny that there isn't some inherent bias against NEHA due to what magazines, police and attorneys referred to as a risky lifestyle. It was this lifestyle, these private, personal moments, that were put on display for all to see and resulted in Sneha's family, friends and co workers suffering. The papers reported that she frequented lesbian bars where she would end the night going home with strangers. To her family, these rumors were devastating and they vehemently denied them. However, Ron, to his part, did not deny that his wife often visited lesbian and gay bars, nor that she went home with other women. He stated there was nothing sexual about the interactions, though, according to him, Sneha enjoyed listening to live music and having a drink at times, preferring to do so at bars where she felt safe and secure. At a lesbian bar, there was a much lower chance of strange men accosting her, especially after the incident where she had been groped. Ron stated that Sneha simply wanted to enjoy herself in a space where she didn't feel threatened. Friends, however, have publicly disclosed that Sneha did form romantic and sexual relationships with both men and women. Remember, this was in 2001 and the world was wildly different than it is today. Anything except for heterosexuality was frowned upon in the media, and LGBTQ individuals could legally be fired due to their sexuality. In many states. It wasn't a terribly kind world if you weren't straight, and if Sneha wasn't, that surely added to the stress she was feeling.

[Courtney Brown]

But that wasn't the only stress in Sneha's life that was brought to the public's attention. When Detective Stark with the NYPD initially interviewed her brother John, he disclosed that he and Sneha weren't talking in the days leading up to 9 11. And the reason? According to John, he had caught Sneha and his girlfriend having sex. When later asked about it, John recanted his statement, claiming that he said no such thing and that he never even met with detectives. However, Detective Stark had documents confirming that they had indeed met up and that John told him that exact scenario. So why John or the detective would make this up isn't clear. But it leaves us with this question. What actually happened?

[Colin Brown]

The Phillips did not Remember Sneha as the woman the police described in their report. They admitted that she had faced hard times in recent months. But the claims the detectives were making were exaggerated to the extreme. Drinking was only Sneha's form of self medicating during a painful period in her life, not a full on addiction. Her suspension from work had been temporary and she was still very much committed to being a first rate doctor. She had never cheated on her husband and had merely sought out like minded friends. To them, she was still the same vibrant, kind and honest woman who had walked down the aisle in 2000. Questions, though lingered. Were the police simply trying to excuse their own failures? Or was the family trying to protect Sneha's reputation? Attempting to paint her as a hero rather than a woman living a double life? One point made by Ron himself remains true. However, even if everything the police said was true, nothing had explained his wife's disappearance. A troubled marriage, drinking, nor late nights accounted for why she never came back home. Even the detectives who wrote the report admitted later on that Sneha had most likely perished in the World Trade Center.

[Courtney Brown]

For her family, that conclusion was the only thing that mattered. In the end, they simply wanted her recognized as a victim of 9 11. But with no official certificate listing her date of death as September 11, 2001, the family was not allowed to collect from the Victim's Compensation Fund, a federally funded program for the families of victims of 9 11. But losing out on this money hurt far less than than the state's symbolic denial of Sneha's legacy. Her husband Ron hoped to use those funds for good charitable work. And without them, he could not give back to his community that had given his family so much. But the law had already given their verdict to them. With no proof she had been a victim of 9 11. They believed that she very well may have been a victim of homicide, suicide, or even a runaway. So with that, her name was removed from the list of 911 victims, which was a severe blow to her family. Her mother was inconsolable, crying often and at the most unexpected moments. But despite the odds, that felt helpless. The family continued to file appeals. And finally, on February 1, 2008, they succeeded. The New York Law Journal announced that the decision had been overturned. Given her proximity to the Towers and the evidence of her last known movements, the court concluded that there was more than enough reason to believe that she died at the World Trade Center. Sneha's name was restored to the list of victims. But as an added honor, it was carved into the memorial built on ground zero on panel S66 of the South Memorial Pool. Dr. Sneha Ann Phillips name was etched into the stone, a reminder of her life and legacy. Today, Sneha would be almost 60 years old, but to her family, she remains the vibrant 31 year old they knew and loved. Her bedroom at her parents house in Poughkeepsie remains exactly how it was the day she vanished. Decorated with photos, diplomas and memories. But there are some people out there, like Sneha's supervisor at the hospital that believe she is out there somewhere living the life she dreamt of.

[Colin Brown]

What do you think happened to her?

[Dr. E]

It's my opinion. It's always been my opinion since I heard about 911 and I had seen some documentary on television and I thought, oh, she finally got what she wanted. She got away. I feel like she was unhappy in her marriage. Just that was my opinion based on her actions. And I felt like she's the type of person that was so, so incredibly smart that if she wanted something to happen, she could make it happen.

[Colin Brown]

You think she had the intelligence to just pull something like that off on the spot?

[Dr. E]

100% and then some.

[Colin Brown]

How many people have you met in your life that you would say had that kind of ability because you're smart.

[Dr. E]

You'Re a doctor, you are a maybe three.

[Colin Brown]

And she was one of the three, right?

[Dr. E]

Like a genius mind, you know, A.

[Colin Brown]

Genius mind that left legacy no matter where or even if she took her final breaths. In the wake of her disappearance, Ron remained close with the Philip family. With their blessing, he remarried. Still practicing medicine, he and his new wife welcomed a daughter into the world, building a family of their own and looking forward to a bright future. All around New York, reminders of Sneha linger. The sushi spot where she and Ron shared lunches. The hospitals where she provided exceptional care to the people of New York City. And finally, the 911 memorial pools where her name is etched forever into stone. A name that carried with it a whole life, a whole story, and above all, overwhelming love.

[Courtney Brown]

But Sneha Phillips disappearance was not the only mystery tied to September 11th. On that same morning, as Ron Lieberman wondered where his wife had gone, another man was busy at work, fighting for the future of his family. Henrik Siviak, a Polish immigrant, came to New York City seeking opportunity and hope. But he only found tragedy. This man, known as the last man killed on 911 did not die from fire, smoke or falling debris. He died from a bullet to the lung. And much like Sneha, his story began far, far away from the skyscrapers of the Big Apple.

[Colin Brown]

Are you ready to have your mind blown? I want you now to imagine that in front of you was a locked door symbolizing all that you know, everything you've been taught in your time on Earth, the lies your government has fed you. With my podcast, the Conspiracy Files, I now give you the door's key. And once you've listened to the show, you finally unlock this door and step inside. Beyond the door is another dimension, a dimension of false narratives, a dimension of hidden evidence, a dimension of truth, lies and murders. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of death, deadly secrets and explosive ideas. You've just crossed over into the conspiracy zone. I'm your host, Colin Brown. Join me now on this journey into the world of secret pedophile rings, government cover ups, and suspicious suicides on my new show, the Conspiracy Files, available now on all streaming platforms. He was born in Krakow, the Polish People's Republic, in 1955, a country with a turbulent history. Still reeling From World War II, Henrik knew from a young age that he had to work hard to make something of himself. But he still found time for the finer things in life, like love. At just five years old, he met his future wife, Iwa, when she was visiting his neighbors who were her relatives. Throughout their childhoods, they spent summers together running through the cobblestone city streets, relaxing along the river and sharing stories and secrets with open hearts and bright smiles. It was a love at first sight situation, a love that would follow him and drive him towards success for his entire life, right up until the end. His family was forever his fire and his reason for being. As soon as he could, he joined the army to build a life for himself in Ewa. After two years of serving, he took a job on the railroad, using his analytic, mechanical mind to climb the career ladder. Soon, with money in the bank and a place to call their own, he and his wife welcomed two children into the world. A daughter, Gabriella, and a son, Adam. Raising his children was Henrik's greatest pleasure, and he dreamt of one day building a house entirely with his own hands. A house that his family could always come back to and be proud of. But that, of course, would take money. Unfortunately, as the 1990s ticked on, Poland's economy began to collapse. Henrik's job, like thousands of others, was snatched away from him. By 2000, Gabriella was 17, on the cusp of going to college. But with no money for tuition, her options for furthering her education were limited. Wanting the best for his family. Henrik made a brave choice. He would leave the country and earn enough money to not only send his daughter to college, but to build the home he had always dreamt of giving his family.

[Courtney Brown]

He ended up settling on New York, where his sister Lucina had moved in search of a better life years earlier. Despite having little money to his name and knowing very little English, he dove into the opportunity head first, moving into an apartment in Far Rockaway near his sister. Immediately he looked in Polish printed newspapers to find work in construction, landscaping, or really anywhere that would hire him. Within a year, he was earning about $1,000 a month and sending the majority of that money back home to his family. But as for life in New York, it became a cycle of constant work and little rest. Some evenings he would sit by the water to watch the sunset. But mostly, Henrik kept to himself, focused more on providing a life to his loved ones than making friends. During his day to day, he often woke up, went to work, came home, talked to his family, and then went to bed. All of his waking hours were spent caring for his wife and children. Even from thousands of miles away. The thing that mattered most to him was earning the money he needed to return to where he belonged. Home.

[Colin Brown]

On September 11th, his day began. Like all the others, he walked to work, this time at a construction site in downtown Manhattan. He planned to labor from dawn until dusk, never imagining that before the day had ended, he would be yet another victim, tied to this dark date in the most unexpected way possible. It was around 8:45am that Henrik suddenly heard a loud crash. Now, if you've been to New York City, you know that it's already loud and filled with a constant stimulus. But this sound was different. The strangeness and suddenness of the noise sent a shiver down everyone's spine. It was the sound of breaking glass, crunching metal, and thousands upon thousands of screams. Henrick stood from his task, joined by the day's co workers, wondering what he could have heard. Suddenly, the wails of fire trucks, police sirens and ambulances joined the growing soundscape of shadow shouts and cries. Looking around New York's dominating skyline, it was a punch in the gut to see what had caused the panicked din ever growing around him. Smoke was pouring from the walls and windows of the World Trade Center's North Tower, and pieces of an airplane were jutting from a gaping, shattered hole of twisted iron bars and broken masonry in its side.

[Courtney Brown]

Standing transfixed by the horror, he wondered how such a terrible accident could have happened in the face of such a Disaster work on the construction site came to a grinding halt. As Henrick watched, some citizens ran towards the burning tower like moths were drawn to a flame, seeking to aid the trapped workers and injured victims within. Still more fled the scene, wanting nothing as much than to be away from the fire and death. News vans rushed to the site. Their cameras pointed towards the sky as the world tuned in to watch the horror unfold. Almost 20 minutes had passed since the plane struck the North Tower. And Henrik stood watching, powerless to help or stop the catastrophe. But without warning, he and the rest of the world learned that the madness had only just begun.

[Colin Brown]

Another jet, streaking in out of the blue smashed into the side of the South Tower. News vans and home cameras capturing every nightmarish moment. A great burst of flame rushed out from the devastation and the sound of crunching, shredding metal was deafening. New waves of shrieking New Yorkers erupted from the gathered crowds as people began to realize that this was far from an accident. America was under attack. Henrick fled, turning toward one of the bridges connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. He raced back to his apartment on beach street in Rockaway, Queens. The headlong rush back to his home took two hours against the raging tide of bodies escaping Lower Manhattan. Among the screaming people and sirens, Henrick heard something calamitous from behind him in the direction of the towers. It was the loudest crash he had ever heard, akin to the noise of the planet crumbling in on itself.

[Courtney Brown]

Nearly a ton of steel and concrete had just collapsed. He turned to see the empty space where the South Tower once stood. And soon after, the North Tower would follow. He had heard the noise of thousands of lives all at once being extinguished. Turning his back towards his apartment, he ran all the harder. It had been three in the afternoon when Ewa and her children found that the Twin Towers were under attack. The three watching their usual programs. When the heart shattering news broke across the world, instantly they thought of their husband and father, who had gone to that very city to better their lives, and left with nothing but the horrible images of death and destruction. There was nothing they could do but wait. They couldn't reach him. They had no idea if he was safe from across the world. They sat, paced and waited, watching the phone, sick to their stomachs. But at last the call came. Ewa, standing by the phone, picked it up at once. When she heard his voice, relief washed over her. Henrik told them that he was safe, but he described the scene as he had witnessed it. He spoke about the second plane, the crash when the towers fell. Though shaken, the Father and husband remained the stoic man he always was.

[Colin Brown]

Henric asked his wife to explain what was going on. As he had no working television, she filled him in. And the gravity of the terror attacks finally struck. Henrik assured his family he would stay home that night, knowing that the city had never been more dangerous. As soon as he hung up, however, reality weighed heavily on him. The construction site had been his only income for the day, and he couldn't afford the loss. He had to do something.

[Courtney Brown]

Determined to continue supporting his family, Henrik scanned the Polish newspaper Super Express, looking for jobs, and one ad caught his eye. It read, men to clean stores in Brooklyn and Queens. No English required. It seemed like the perfect fit. Through a Polish temp agency, he arranged the job. Later that day, his new position was confirmed. But there was a catch. He would have to start that night, in spite of the turmoil the city was in. He took the job anyway, knowing it was what he had to do for his family. When he called home to share the news, Ewa, the love of his life, begged him not to go. There was too much going on in New York. But Henrik dismissed her fears. He was determined to provide for them, and he told her that he would be careful sharing their last goodbyes. He hung up the phone, prepared to go out into the night and work for the life he dreamt of.

[Colin Brown]

Dressed in his favorite Salvation army camouflage jacket and pants, Henrik gathered a bag with spare clothes, a subway map and the address to which he was traveling. Before leaving, he asked his landlady, Anna, for directions. Always glad to help, Anna pointed him to Albany Avenue. But she made a crucial mistake. She pointed to 6 Albany, the start of Albany Avenue, far from the block that Henrick had actually wanted. Anna had accidentally directed Henrick four miles away from where he needed to be, telling him to get off at Utica. She smiled and waved him on his way. Henrick, unbeknownst to him or his family, was about to be sent into one of the most dangerous areas of New York City at the time. Bed Stuy.

[Courtney Brown]

Around 11pm Henrik stepped off the subway in Bedford, a neighborhood notorious at the time for crime, known then as Bed Stuy. Do or die. Gunshots were not an irregular part of life in that neighborhood, and the drug problem in the area was well known. It was already a volatile place on a normal night, but on the night of 9 11, it was akin to throwing a match on a puddle of gasoline. Sharoni Perry, a resident and witness of the crime that was about to unfold, stated that things were a bit tense that night. Late into the evening, 25 to 30 people were outside discussing the events of the day. Perry remembered seeing a man walking down the street that night at around 11.40pm Carrying a small piece of paper in his hands, as if he was looking for an address. That man was Henrick, and he was approaching Albany Avenue, likely finally realizing just how far away he was from his destination. Perry remembers noticing that she wasn't the only one watching him. Henrick was a white man with olive skin and dark hair walking through Bed Stuy at night not even a full 24 hours after the worst terrorist attack on US soil. He was also wearing army fatigues and carrying a bag. At minimum, he stood out, and at worse, he was seen as a threat. Henrick approached a phone booth at the corner of Albany and Fulton, and upon doubling back, walking down Abeny towards Decatur, Perry noticed that some men were following behind him.

[Colin Brown]

They had been following him from south of Atlantic Avenue through a desolate, largely abandoned part of town. Peri saw the outlines of three men stalking him, and she couldn't take it anymore. She turned away. She wasn't watching when the arguing began and the gunshots rang out. But she heard them. There were seven, the police would later learn. Soon after the shots, another resident of Bed Stuy heard her front doorbell ring. Yet she too refused to get involved. She later told detectives, I heard the bell ringing, but I wasn't answering it after I heard those shots. Had she answered the door, she would have seen what Sharoni Perry saw outside her own window. People scattered in all directions. Everyone except for Henrick. A trail of blood crossed the street where he had desperately dashed to the door for help. After he rang the bell, he collapsed on the steps, landing on his face in a pool of his own blood. He was still clutching the directions to his job in his hand when he took his final breath. In his mind, they had been a ticket to a better life. Instead, coming to America, he found himself as the last victim on one of the most tragic days in the city's history.

[Courtney Brown]

When police arrived at the murder scene, only three officers from the evidence collection team could respond. Now, the evidence collection team, while a crucial part of the nypd, does not deal with homicides under normal circumstances, they are dispatched to burglaries, misdemeanors, and other crimes that don't involve fatalities. But clearly due to that day's tragedy, every available homicide detective was at ground zero, where they would remain for days and weeks to come. So all the responding team could do was tape off the area and ask questions. The case had already begun at a disadvantage, and witnesses would do little to help. The most that was said was that they had seen nothing at all. While other people admitted that they assumed Henrik, with his dark complexion and army fatigues, was a terrorist, to them, he had looked suspicious. Fear and paranoia reigned where facts were few. And in the wake of 9 11, facts were hard to come by.

[Colin Brown]

Investigators recovered seven.40 caliber casings, confirming the shots that neighbors had heard. Though only one had hit Henrick. Sadly, it had been fatal. Robbery was quickly ruled out, as his wallet and bag were untouched. Either burglary hadn't been the motive, or the killer had been scared away before taking anything. With the city overwhelmed, however, his death was quickly overshadowed. For weeks, months, almost all police resources were focused on Lower Manhattan or simply on trying to hold the city together. Even after days of doing their best, the police came away from the crime scene with no useful leads. The loss was devastating to Henrick's family. His mother, unable to understand what had happened to her son, believed that he had been a victim of the Twin Towers collapse. His wife mourned her partner of multiple decades, the man she had begged to stay home that night. As she contemplated a future without him, she realized she would have to raise their children alone. Adam, the youngest of the family, at 10 years old, seemed to take it the hardest. He would become convinced that his father's death was somehow his fault, that he had been bad, and that God was punishing him for it. Henrik's sister was the only one who brought the family any comfort. Soon after his death, she brought Henrik's ashes back to Krakow for a funeral.

[Courtney Brown]

And she did more than just this. She fought hard to press the police into action, hoping they would do more to find her brother's killer. But first, police would have to figure out what sort of motive had driven the killing in the first place. Usina, among others, believed that Henrik could have been mistaken for a threat by off duty police officers. Officers who were ready to jump at shadows when they saw a suspicious man. His limited English would have prevented him from communicating when confronted. And if he had been commanded to put his hands up, he wouldn't have understood. But the weapon used in the murder wasn't a standard issue for a service weapon. Meaning if it had been a cop, it wasn't a cop's gun. Lt. Tom Joyce, commanding officer of the NYPD 79th Detective Squad, reject the idea as a possibility. The caliber of the gun was unique, according to him, not something an officer would have carried.

[Colin Brown]

A year passed, and still no One knew who had shot Henrik, no one had a lead, and no new evidence had turned up. What's more, Henrick's case went without notice. His name unread at any memorial ceremony and never etched into the stone of the memorial. Pools went forgotten. NYPD and Crime Stoppers would later offer a $12,000 reward for information on Henrick's death, but the prize went unclaimed. His name appeared in a few newspaper stories, but those who remember him best are his family. As time continued to pass, Iwa Sawiak was forced to accept that her husband's killer would go uncaptured. Lt. Joyce remains hopeful that someone will come forward, though knowing that at least one person must have witnessed the incident. He continues to believe a culprit will be identified. But until then, the family remembers Henrik, the fearless husband and father who would do anything to provide for his family. And now Luciana does everything she can to give back to him. As the sole representative of her family in the US she does everything she can to gather information for them. But most importantly, she carries on his legacy. Each year, on the anniversary of his death, she travels to a memorial service at St Patrick's Cathedral. Among the many mourners in the crowd, she sometimes does not make it into the building just as Henrik was. She's nudged aside by the city's greater loss.

[Courtney Brown]

The city's loss stretched further than most people realized. It wasn't just police and the neighboring boroughs that were pulled away from their communities to help wade through the tragedy of 911 and Manhattan. It was the police in neighboring counties and states. 200 miles north of New York City, in the small county of Tioga, one man took advantage of the local police, having their attention focused elsewhere. And finally, after months of rage and threats, he may have seen an opportunity to make a young, vibrant mother disappear.

[Colin Brown]

Despite the tragedy that unfolded on the morning of September 11th, 35 year old Michelle Ann Harris was hopeful she was about to start a new chapter. A chapter she had been waiting to turn the page to for years. Her marriage was ending. But in her case, that was a blessing of untold proportions. If you had told her that in the 1980s, she never would have believed you. Because when she met her husband, Calvin Cal Harris, it was as if all the fairytales she had been told as a child had finally come true. Cal, a native of Binghamton, New York, seemed to have it all. Even in College in the 1980s, he was wealthy, successful, and so charming that he drew people to him like moths to a flame. His parents Ran a wildly profitable chain of car dealerships. And he knew that when he graduated, the torch would be passed to him. In his eyes, his life was set. He just needed someone to share it with.

[Courtney Brown]

That person was Michelle taylor, a hard working woman from spencer, New york. After getting an associate's degree in business, she took a job near her hometown, Working as a secretary at one of the Harris family's many dealerships. There, she met Cal, who, despite working as her superior, began to woo her with grand gestures, extravagant gifts, and dreamy nights out. Coming from a working class family, Michelle had never experienced this kind of romance. The kind she had seen played out in movies as a kid and in the rom com she rented on Saturday nights. Cal seemed too good to be true. And that was likely by design. Abusers often use a tactic called love bombing in order to quickly gain control of their romantic partners. And this includes everything that Cal did. Lavish dates, kind words, luxurious gifts, and over the top gestures. It's a very strategic way of locking people into a relationship before they show their true nature. Then by the time they do show it, you're already so disoriented, longing for the person they once were, that it's hard for you to step away looking from the outside. This case seems to be a textbook example of that.

[Colin Brown]

By 1990, shortly after they struck up their romance, the Michelle agreed to marry Cal. Quickly, he got to work building their dream life together. At least a facade of their dream life. He purchased a 252 acre estate in northern Tioga County, New York. And there the couple had an extravagant house built to their specifications. When it was done, they had a stunning home, A private lake, horse barns, and miles and miles and miles of beautiful meadows. With the home straight out of a catalog, the two began their life in earnest. Michelle gave birth to and cared for three precious babies, Taylor, Kayla, and Jenna, While Kyle continued to bring home big paychecks. It looked like their life was perfection. But as the years ticked on, their marriage began to splinter. And the ugly cracks that had formed long ago began to show to the public.

[Courtney Brown]

In 1999, Michelle was pregnant with the couple's fourth child. And though she was excited to welcome their baby into the world, there's nothing she wanted more than for her life to be completely different. On the inside, she was falling apart. Cal, the romantic, sweet man she had married, had changed. Or maybe he had just finally allowed her to see who he really was. Everything in the home had to be perfect at all times. If the dishes weren't clean to his standards, Michelle Would be berated for hours with screaming and threats. And when he wasn't at home screaming at her, he was with other women. While still pregnant with his child, Michelle learned that Cal was having an affair. He had met his mistress in the same way he had met Michelle. She was an employee at one of his family's car lots. Upon being confronted about the affair, Cal used the feeble excuse that Michelle hadn't been keeping the house clean enough and that the stress of it all caused him to seek out other women. So, feeling trapped and attacked by his ridiculous excuse, Michelle pushed him to end the affair. And of course, he agreed. But a few weeks later, Michelle learned that the two had gone on a romantic vacation to barbados together. And that's when she knew she was done. Slowly, she began planning her escape. One that had been 10 years in the making.

[Colin Brown]

After their final child, a son named Tanner, was born In October of 2000, Michelle stopped sharing a bed with Cal and made it clear that their romantic relationship was over. But Michelle still wanted that fairytale romance she had always dreamed of. With her and Cal's relationship over, she found someone who ignited hope in her once more. His name was Brian early, A younger man from nearby Pennsylvania whom she had met while he was conducting a surveying job in Tioga county. Immediately, the two hit it off. Desperate to escape the tension in her home, she often snuck off for romantic rendezvous in the nearby poconos with Brian. There, they'd huddle up in a cabin and forget about the stress in their lives. Because when Michelle was home, it was clear that the divorce she so desperately wanted was. Was going to be a challenge. Cal was desperate to keep Michelle under his thumb. He didn't want the shame of having a failed marriage, Preferring to keep up appearances for the sake of his pride. But just as important, he didn't want Michelle to take any of his family fortune in the divorce. As the sole caretaker of four children, however, there was no way Michelle was leaving without some financial support. Immediately, she got herself a job waitressing at lefty's, a restaurant in waverly, Anticipating her transition back into the workforce once the couple divorced. When she wasn't at work, she tried to talk to Cal about having an amicable split, but he made it very clear that that wasn't on the table. The family's nanny, Barb Thayer, Witnessed numerous screaming matches in which the pair would fight for hours. Still wanting to control his wife, Cal threatened to file charges of child abandonment if she moved out of the home. So the screaming within the walls of the home they had built together only got worse and worse as 2001 trudged on.

[Courtney Brown]

But by September 9, Michelle felt a wave of relief. She was getting her life back. Finally. Cal had agreed to a divorce, and Michelle would accept a large financial settlement from him, as well as custody of their children. All of that would happen on September 12. But while she dreamt of a life away from Cal, Brian dreamt of a proposal. However, Michelle wasn't ready to hop into another marriage. But she was happy for the first time in a while. After years of being yelled at and called names, she finally felt wanted. She felt like her magnetic, outgoing and intelligent self again. And that in itself was enough to put her in a good mood. But with the dark cloud of Cal leaving her life and a large settlement on the way, on September 10th, Michelle was walking on air. She told anyone who would listen about her plans to visit New York City, where one of her college friends lived. While there, she planned upon all of the jewelry Cal had given her in order to help pay for the house she and Brian were pursuing. With that home, she would finally be out from beneath Cal's oppressive thumb. The house was smaller and quaint, but it was safe. And that's all she could ask for.

[Colin Brown]

Despite the weight of terror attacks, Michelle Harris felt that her life was about to begin anew. It was a cool, refreshing breeze that welcomed Michelle into the night as she ended her shift at Lefty's Restaurant. On that September evening, even though the world was in chaos, Michelle was feeling better than she had in years. Climbing into her gold 2000 Ford WinStar van, she prepared to head home. Even though Cal would be just as difficult to deal with tonight as he ever was, she could see the end on the horizon. A new day was coming. Tomorrow, it would be all over.

[Courtney Brown]

The next morning on September 12, Barb Thayer woke up to an unexpected phone call. Now, Barb had been the Harris family nanny for quite some time, but she was more than that. She was a close friend of Michelle herself. Barb was accustomed to taking calls early in the morning. Though the true surprise came when she read the caller ID. It wasn't Michelle who was calling her at 7 o' clock in the morning. It was Cal. Worried, she picked up the phone at once. After a brief exchange, Cal asked her if she could come over and help get the kids ready for school. But this was strange. Now, normally, Michelle would help him with it, but Cal said that she hadn't come home last night. Barb was immediately taken aback. Michelle was not the type of person to stay out all Night, and Barb had no idea where she could have gone. But she told Cal that she would be right there. She was more worried about Michelle than getting the kids sent off to school. So she got dressed in a hurry and drove to the estate. The entire way, her worry for her friend gnawed at her. And when she arrived at the property, it only got worse.

[Colin Brown]

Michelle's Ford Windstar sat at the end of the lengthy driveway in a daze of shock. Bob parked and got out of her car to take a look. The doors were unlocked. The key's still in the ignition. Throughout the car, there's organized chaos. Magazines, wrappers and bags full of jewelry that Michelle had been planning to pawn in the city. Her heart hammering, Barb got back in the car and began to make her way up the long, winding driveway. She hoped that Michelle had arrived in the time between Cal's call and her arrival. But when she entered the home, it was clear that that wasn't the case. She shouted for Michelle, but Cal answered instead. He was already showered and dressed for work. He looked far too relaxed for someone whose wife hadn't come home, for someone whose wife's car was parked at the end of the driveway. When Barb told him that the car was there, instead of being worried, he replied, we'd better go get it.

[Courtney Brown]

The pair returned to the end of the driveway. There, Barb told Cal her obvious concern that Michelle is lying somewhere nearby, injured or worse. But he tried to calm her fears by telling her that Michelle had simply gone to New York City early that day. But that clearly made no sense. Barb asked him how she could have gotten there without her car, but Cal shrugged his shoulders. He suggested that maybe his soon to be ex wife hitchhiked, but again, Barb wouldn't buy it. And Cal wasn't finished just yet. As Barb stood before him, terrified, Cal shook his head as he looked at the interior of the car, visibly disgusted. He remarked coldly that he needed to get the car cleaned, and soon after, he left for work, leaving Barb dumbfounded.

[Colin Brown]

Cal soon left for work, but Barb was still concerned. She didn't believe that Michelle would go on such short notice, especially without her car in the middle of the night. When the home phone rang at 8:05am Barb's fears were bolstered by someone else. Nikki Burdick, one of Michelle's closest friends, was surprised to hear Barb on the other end of the line. She called most every day to chat with Michelle before their busy days began. When Michelle wasn't the One to answer that morning, her heart sank. When Barb told Nikki the situation she had walked into that morning, her blood ran cold. She too knew that Michelle wasn't the type to leave under such strange circumstances, Especially without telling anyone. Nikki called Michelle's phone at once and left a voicemail. Meanwhile, Barb began her own calls to Michelle's friends and associates. Quickly, she learned that not only did no one know where Michelle was, but but she realized that she had an appointment with her divorce lawyer later on that same day, after learning that she hadn't been seen since she left work the night before. She had heard enough. It was time to report Michelle Harris as a missing person.

[Courtney Brown]

Michelle's divorce attorney contacted the New York State Police senior investigator Sue Mulvey, and soon enough, a search was underway. But as in all the previous cases we mentioned, there was a very limited response. On September 11, 2001, the New York State Police had just sent between 500 and 600 state troopers to New York City the previous day. So getting any kind of investigation off the ground was going to be slow work at best. In fact, the disappearance may have been overlooked entirely if it hadn't been for the call from Michelle's divorce attorney. If someone had heard about the massive police response being sent to the Twin Towers and that person wanted to make Michelle disappear, now would have been the perfect time to act. Now. Fortunately, what few officers could respond to her disappearance, they knew exactly who to speak to. Less than an hour after the call, investigators Mike Myers and Mike Young arrived at Cal Harris Ford dealership to begin their questioning.

[Colin Brown]

During the questioning, Cal remained calm and unemotional, denying any involvement in Michelle's disappearance. He didn't seem to be hiding anything, nor to try hinder the police. He even brought the investigators back to the Harris estate to allow them to perform a search, cooperating every step of the way. He even stepped away from the estate, telling investigators that they were free to look around without him being present. But during their initial sweep, they didn't spot anything unusual. However, others would soon find evidence that would leave them confident that Cal was much more guilty than he was acting. In the meantime, he pointed detectives in a different direction. He urged them to look more closely at Michelle herself. She was living a single life with her own money, freedom, and more importantly, new men. After continuing to search for leads, police learned of Michelle's new love interests. And their sights were set on them.

[Courtney Brown]

Brian early was at the top of that list. Not only was he Michelle's most prominent lover, but Michelle had been with him on the night she disappeared after leaving work, she visited Brian's apartment. But when brought in for an interview, Brian stated that she had come to visit but left around 11pm with this admission, though he denied guilt, he was now the last person to see her alive. On top of that, it was discovered that Michelle had a brief romance with her boss, Michael Casper. So was this a potential motive for Brian to harm her? Had Brian learned of their brief romance and taken his rage out on the woman he loved? Or had Michelle left the apartment unharmed, just like he stated? But clearly, Brian wasn't the only suspect here. In fact, there would end up being four more that police would look into. Because it wasn't just Brian that Michelle had seen that night.

[Colin Brown]

Just before Michelle left work on the 11th, she shared a drink with Michael Casper in the parking lot. But they weren't alone. One more employee joined them. Coincidentally, Michelle. He had a record, and it was a telling one. His name was Michael Hakes, and over a decade prior, he had committed a brutal rape in Arizona. In just a few hours, detectives went from having their standard lead, an estranged husband, to having four very promising two boyfriends, a convicted rapist and an abusive spouse. They had a lot of ground to cover, and they knew where they needed to start at the Harris residence. There, Steve Anderson, a forensic specialist, took a closer look at the home that had seemed completely normal to the initial detectives. And the second that he looked in the garage, it became clear that something very, very bad had happened.

[Courtney Brown]

Dark red stains were splashed across the wall and floor. To his trained eye, it was obvious that it was blood spatter. So with this suspicion, a search warrant was obtained for the property, and the Harris residence was rapidly transformed into a crime scene. Minute by minute, the crime scene seemed to expand. There were red stains in the foyer, the kitchen, and on an area rug in the living room. Some of them even looked like someone had tried to clean it. So obviously, all eyes were on Cal Harris. But he was nowhere near the house.

[Colin Brown]

Instead, he was at a dinner with Michelle's family in Cooperstown. Everyone there showed the deepest concern, except, of course, Cal. While at dinner, Michelle's sister in law, Shannon Taylor, brought something that many at the time had believed was only a joke. In March of that year, Cal had stated in a joking manner that he had the perfect place to put Michelle's body. Somewhere she would never be found. Cal denied ever having made the remark, but eventually he admitted that he had indeed said it, but it was all in jest. It was a joke. But Shannon and the rest of Michelle's family felt that this was tantamount to a confession. In time, they hoped the police would be getting a real one. Because when Cal arrived back home, investigators began to lay on their own pressure. They asked him about the bloodstains, and while Cal initially could not explain them, he later said they were from an incident where Michelle had cut herself in the garage. Police found nothing else on the property to make them believe Cal was the culprit in Michelle's disappearance. And without the full strength of their police force, they couldn't competently search the property. So they waited.

[Courtney Brown]

Days soon turned to weeks, and no new evidence was brought forward. Once the New York State police were able to turn their attention away from the twin towers, a massive search was conducted. But nothing ever came from was a disheartening fact, not only for Michelle's family, but for the police as well. Meanwhile, Cal Harris was acting as if he was glad to get rid of his wife. Days after she vanished, he had urgently shuttled all of Michelle's belongings out of the house into a garage sale. It had only been one week, but Cal seemed confident that his wife would never be coming home. Just three weeks later, he even revealed a new relationship. And he continued on, living in his home as if he had never even had a life there with Michelle. While he moved on, his children were also forced to. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. With each passing second. Her four children missed her terribly. Her family waited by the phone, hoping for good news or even, at this point, just news of a body. But sadly, with no body and no murder weapon, the case went cold.

[Colin Brown]

Yet Michelle's family continued to push for answers. They urged police to make a conviction or to get that final piece of information that would lead them to trial after four years. In mid-2005, they found that little bit of info in Jerome Wilczynski, Michelle's hairdresser. When questioned, he revealed that two months before Michelle had vanished, he overheard a conversation between Cal and Michelle on her phone. Jerome overheard Cal scare Michelle with a haunting threat. He was going to kill her and make her body disappear forever. Finally, that threat offered police an opportunity to secure a conviction. They were issued a warrant by a judge, and on September 30, 2005, Cal Harris was arrested at his Ford dealership in front of his employees. His wrists and ankles were chained, and with the snap of the medal began a trial that would span over a decade. It began on May 21, 2007. Naturally, Cal's defense was that there was no actual evidence that he was involved in Michelle's disappearance. Indeed, it would be a hard case to fight, but prosecutor Jerry Kane was determined. The police brought forward the threats, the messy divorce, Cal's odd behavior, and most importantly, the blood spatter in the house as their evidence. Criminologist Henry Lee would be instrumental in their case. Best known for his work in the O.J. simpson trial, Lee was able to use the blood spots to the police's advantage. According to Lee, the spots indicated that Michelle had been beaten in the garage. The spatter was small and there was very little blood. But the pattern indicated medium velocity, which would have come from a small blunt object, not a bloody nose or cut finger as Cal Harris had stated. Moreover, the area rug had a square shaped pattern of blood on it, indicating that a murder weapon had been dropped there. Cal's defense attorneys dismissed the blood, saying it could have been very old. A few drops of blood did not mean he had beaten his wife to death and then hid the body. What else could there be to implicate Cal in her possible murder? For one, even though every other suspect had agreed to take a lie detector test, Cal had refused adamantly. He had also refused to testify at the trial, which only appeared to make him more guilty.

[Courtney Brown]

After two weeks of testimony, witnesses and police evidence, the case went to the jury. But against testimonies of threats, his odd behavior, and a few spots of blood, Kael only needed reasonable doubt to avoid a conviction. After four hours of deliberation over two days, the jury handed down its verdict. Cal Harris was guilty of the second degree murder of his wife, Michelle Ann Harris. Standing in the courtroom, Cal burst into tears. Michelle's family rejoiced, getting the justice they had been looking for. Meanwhile, Cal's defense attorney stood stunned. They didn't understand how Cal could have been convicted on such slim evidence. But to the jurors, this was an open and shut case. Many small pieces of evidence had come together to create a damning picture. And they would later say that it was Cal's actions that gave him away. He never joined in a single search. He went to work instead of staying home or looking for her. He never tried to help the police, nor did he give them a single clue on where they might find her.

[Colin Brown]

But two months later, only days before Cal was set to receive his sentence, A new witness, Kevin Tubbs, came forward. Kevin Tubbs, a local farmer, stated that on the morning Michelle Harris disappeared, he saw two vehicles parked at the end of the estate in the pre dawn hours. One was Michelle's van and the Other was a blue pickup truck. He was able to see both vehicles in the headlights of his tractor. As well as the two attendants. One was a blonde woman who seemed to be crying. The other was a dark haired, dark complexioned man.

[Courtney Brown]

If Kevin had seen Michelle that morning just before dawn. Cal wouldn't have had time to kill her and hide the body. Before calling Barb Thayer, who lived only six minutes away. Now, Kevin admitted he didn't get a close look, but he was certain the woman was Michelle. This evidence was enough to have the case overturned. And Cal Harris was set free. James Keeney vowed to prosecute him again. And his resilience allowed the trial to resume in July of 2009. For this one, the courts would argue over Kyle Harris guilt or innocence until 2016. But his second trial once again found him guilty. And so he spent three and a half years in prison. During this time, he and his lawyers worked hard to appeal the court's decision. And eventually again, it was overturned. This time they cited issues with the jury and the admissibility of hearsay evidence. So they geared up for a third trial. That one ended in a split jury and a mistrial. And the fourth and final trial would be a bench trial rather than a jury trial. This time around, it gave Cal the results he was looking for. He was found not guilty and set free for the final time. His children, who were all nearly adults at this point. Were just thankful that it was all over.

[Colin Brown]

Michelle's family was devastated. But the verdict against Cal didn't mean the fight to find Michelle's killer was over. Two additional suspects had been revealed over the 10 years of deliberations. It was the man beside the truck, identified as Stacy Stewart and his friend, Christopher Thomason. Stacy Stewart and his friend Christopher were Texas natives who had come to New York for work. They had also appeared to be regulars at Lefty's. According to an ex girlfriend of Stacy's, he had a pretty sordid reputation. Stuart, according to this friend, was once a bona fide member of the Ku Klux Klan. He also claimed to have been a murderer and to know how to hide a body. According to the ex girlfriend, Stacy stated that he was the last person to see Michelle alive. Kevin Tubbs positively identified Stacy as being the man he saw standing next to the truck. But many doubt his account. It was dark and he had only seen him as he was passing by. Tubbs selected his photo out of a lineup. Even positively identifying the car that Stacy had driven at the time. Still others argued that the two other images in the group showed men who bore no resemblance to Stacy. Christopher Thomason, while not directly being blamed for her murder, allegedly knew that Stacey was involved. Christopher's ex wife testified that he, Stacy and Michelle had been drinking together the night of the 11th after Michelle had visited Brian early. After they left the bar, the two went off alone. The ex wife stated that Christopher told her Stacy had probably buried her in concrete after taking her life.

[Courtney Brown]

The most concerning testimony came from an ex girlfriend of Stewart's. Her name was Tara Wade. The morning after Michelle Harris had vanished, she and Thomason had gone over to Stacy's house, and Thomason had been covered in blood. He said he had killed a deer and skinned it. But years later, the account seemed far more sinister. He also allegedly told Wade that he and Stacey had been suspected of murdering a woman in New York, a woman that Stacey had been sleeping with. But when Cal Harris was convicted, they stopped worrying about being caught.

[Colin Brown]

When police went looking for Stacy, they found that both he and Christopher had moved back to Texas. The timing of this was nothing short of dubious, as they had fled the state after police had come asking them to testify in Cal Harris trials. Not only that, but Stacy seemed impossible to find, even in Texas. They did, however, find that women's clothing scraps had been recovered from a burn pit on a property that Stacey had once owned. The evidence was brought forward in Cal Harris third and fourth trials, but nothing has come of the suspect's involvement since. Cal Harris would go on to file a lawsuit against Tioga county for malicious prosecution, although it's still unclear who won or if the lawsuit is still ongoing. In 2025, Cal promised a $100,000 reward to anyone who could give him information leading to the recovery of his ex wife's remains. He stands firm in the statement that he had nothing to do with her disappearance and shared information on Stacy and Christopher that may lead the public in the right direction. He hopes that someone can prove his innocence one day by bringing forward Michelle's remains. Michelle's children, despite losing their mother so young and nearly being orphaned by the court system, have all grown to become successful adults, with Jenna having her own child just this year. They love their father dearly but continue in life without their mother to guide them. Jenna admits that she is afraid to enter motherhood without Michelle to support her. These four children, now adults, may have been the ones who suffered most besides Michelle herself during the three years of their father's incarceration. They were left parentless, only able to see him for one hour visitations most of all they were forced to wonder if their father was a monster who had taken their mother's life. They fought through the pain, succeeding in life despite the overwhelming odds. At a press conference in May of 2025, these scarred but strong young adults shared their pain with the masses. They spoke about how the trial and disappearance of their mother had changed their lives. Alongside them, Cal's lawyer Ida Lisenring describe the suffering of the Harris family. Every holiday, every birthday, an empty seat is left at the table hoping Michelle will join them, even if just in spirit. Cal Harris too attended and despite remaining adamant that he never harmed her, he states that he knows his ex wife is dead. When asked why, he stated that it was because had she been alive, nothing would have stopped her from returning to her children.

[Courtney Brown]

In each of these cases, at every single turn a heart was broken because of the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Three lives were ended among the thousands claimed by the madness of terror. The same hatred that took the lives of the September 11th victims also took the lives of a young mother, a rising doctor and a working father. So along with the souls of the victims lost on 9 11, let us not forget the names of Dr. Sneha Philip, Henrik Siviak and Michelle Harris. They too were loved by all who knew them and their names will live on forever as long as we never forget their stories.

[Colin Brown]

Today we will be making a donation to Tuesday's children which supports all those impacted on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 end in recovery efforts. Hey everybody, thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Murder in America. We know that this is a very important topic that we aim to cover with as much respect as possible. And obviously both Courtney and I's hearts and thoughts go out to anybody who's listening to the show who may have known someone or had a family member that was affected by the 911 terrorist attacks. These stories though are important because there's never been any justice for any of these three families whose loved ones died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances on the same day that so many thousands of others did in the same state. If you enjoy our show and you want to help support what we do here, please consider joining us on Patreon. On Patreon, we release every episode of the show early and ad free. So if you don't like the ads and you want to get access early, please consider joining us on there. And we also have an entire library of bonus episodes. We actually post two bonus episodes of the show on our Patreon every single month. So if you've never signed up to become a patron and you sign up today, you can get access to, I don't even know the number anymore, 120 or so bonus episodes of the show and these are full length episodes with both Courtney and I and the sound design and music just like you hear right here on the main feed. Also, don't forget to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to the show. Those reviews are incredibly important. And finally, follow us on Instagram urderinamerica to see photos from every single case that we cover here on the show. Anyways, y' all have a great rest of your weekend. Thank you for tuning in today. We appreciate each and every one of you so much. Thanks again and I'll catch y' all on the next one.

[Courtney Brown]

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