Disappearance of Sneha Anne Philip

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

Citing the evidence from the police report, a Surrogate's Court judge had denied her family's petition to have her declared a victim of the attacks, suggesting it was equally possible she may have intentionally disappeared or been murdered by someone she met on her frequent nights out. However, on January 31, 2008, a New York State appeals court overturned a lower-court ruling and declared that Philip had been a victim of the attacks, officially making her the 2,751st victim of the Twin Towers' collapse.

Despite it being suggested that the chances of success were low, Lieberman and the Philip family's lawyer went ahead with an appeal. On January 31, 2008, a five-judge panel reversed Judge Roth's decision, finding the simplest explanation to be the most likely – that Philip died trying to help people at the World Trade Center. Judge David Saxe, writing for the other three majority judges, stated, "This is a disturbing case." Saxe observed that the central problem was the lack of direct evidence putting Philip at the site of the attack. However, he said while the City of New York applied the "clear and convincing" standard set forth in statute:

Ellen Winner, appointed guardian ad litem for Philip, introduced the NYPD report and argued that there was no clear evidence she was at or near the World Trade Center during the attacks. On June 29, 2006, Judge Renee Roth ruled that it could not be established that Philip died on September 11 and instead set the date of her legal death at September 10, 2004, three years after she was reported missing, per state law.

On the morning of September 10, Philip had been formally arraigned on the criminal charge and pleaded not guilty. The police report says she and Lieberman fought loudly at the courthouse afterwards about her problems and nights out, which ended with her walking away and leaving him to go home alone and get ready for work. After reviewing it, the city medical examiner removed Philip from the official list of victims in January 2004, one of the last three.

In 2003, after the NYPD investigation concluded, Lieberman filed a court petition in New York County Surrogate's Court, which handles probate matters, to have his wife declared a victim of the 9/11 attacks. New York state law requires "clear and convincing" evidence of a possible victim's exposure to any lethal peril in order for any presumption of death and subsequent legal provisions, including benefits from the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, to apply. Lieberman believed that his wife's profession would have led her to rush to the nearby World Trade Center, if she was in the vicinity, and offer aid to victims. Philip's mother further testified to their online chat, in which she said she was going to visit Windows on the World and possibly do some shopping at the Trade Center's mall. The author of the NYPD report testified that he believed Philip probably died in the attacks.

Since the victims' fund made all its payments and closed in 2003, Lieberman will not receive any money. The decision does mean that Philip's name can be added to official memorials to the victims. One to Philip specifically has already been established at Dutchess Community College, where her mother works as a computer programmer. Her family buried an urn full of ashes from Ground Zero at a cemetery near their home. Six months after the appeals court decision, in July 2008, the family was officially notified by the city that Philip had been added to the victims' list.

Philip was last seen on September 10, 2001, on a day when she was off from work. According to Lieberman, she was planning to spend the day cleaning up the apartment in anticipation of a dinner visit by her cousin two nights later. Philip had a two-hour online chat with her mother, during which she mentioned that she was planning to visit the Windows on the World restaurant on top of the nearby North Tower of the World Trade Center, where a friend was to be married the next spring. At 4 p.m. she signed off and went to drop off some clothes at a neighborhood dry cleaners, then went to a Century 21 where she used the couple's American Express card to buy lingerie, a dress, pantyhose and bed linens. Afterwards Philip bought three pairs of shoes at an annex to the store. A security camera at Century 21 recorded her during this shopping trip. The taped image and the credit-card records are the last confirmed records of Philip's presence anywhere.

Philip was thus officially declared the 2,751st victim of the Twin Towers' collapse. The decision leaves only one missing person whose possible death at the World Trade Center is unresolved. Fernando Molinar, a Mexican immigrant, has not been seen or heard from since September 8, 2001, when he told his mother on the telephone that he was starting a new job at a pizzeria near the World Trade Center. A similar petition to Surrogate's Court on his behalf also was rejected.

The couple were married in May 2000 at a small ceremony held in Dutchess County, combining Jewish and Saint Thomas Syrian Christian elements. Lieberman gave his bride a minnu, a traditional Malayali Syrian Christian wedding pendant shaped like a gold teardrop with a diamond set in it. They moved to a larger apartment in Battery Park City shortly afterwards.

Sneha Anne Philip was born in the Indian state of Kerala. She later moved with her parents to upstate New York, settling first in the Albany area and then in Hopewell Junction, a small hamlet in Dutchess County. Following her graduation from Johns Hopkins University, Philip decided to pursue a career in medicine and enrolled in the Chicago School of Medicine in 1995. There she met Ron Lieberman, a student a year behind her from Los Angeles, and began dating him. The two shared creative interests outside of their intended career—he was a musician and she was interested in painting. Philip took a year off traveling around Italy so the two could graduate together. They moved to New York City where they had both gained internships. Lieberman was at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, while Philip did hers at Cabrini Medical Center, closer to their small apartment in the East Village.

Sneha Anne Philip (October 7, 1969 – legal d. September 11, 2001) was an Indian-American physician who was last seen on September 10, 2001, by a department store surveillance camera near her Lower Manhattan apartment. She may have returned to the building at some point that night or the next morning. Due to the proximity of the World Trade Center and her medical training, Philip's family believes she perished trying to help victims of the following day's terrorist attacks.