Because there is no physical evidence proving Sneha Anne Philip was indeed a 9/11 victim, several judges denied her entry as a part of being honored as a terrorist attack victim (Frazier). These judges ruled on the basis that police reports and court records characterized Sneha’s life as spinning out of control months prior to her disappearance. According to Ken Gallent, a former FBI agent, the doctor was involved in a possible affair with another woman, maintained a history of drug and alcohol abuse, received termination from her medical internship, and awaited a pending court case (“What Happened to Sneha Anne Philip?”). Despite leaving her personal belongings behind such as her passport, credit cards, and glasses, these circumstances led Gallent to believe that Sneha walked away from her life (“What Happened to Sneha Anne Philip?”). However, Sneha’s family has dedicated their efforts to dispute these claims and have petitioned numerous times for Sneha Anne Philip to be legally pronounced a 9/11 victim. The lack of physical evidence of her remains at the site is not adequate to eliminate the possibility of a ground zero death being that the remains of many victims who have been officially ruled dead as a result of the terrorist attacks have not been retrieved.

After countless examinations, the Appellate Division reversed the Surrogate’s Court decision and concluded that, ‘[Ron’s] testimony powerfully suggests that she was in the area at the time of the attacks, either returning home, or having just left home again five minutes before the first attack at 8:48 a.m., whether on her way to shop at the mall, to look at Windows on the World, or do some other errand’ (Dunlap). For the Philip family, the 9/11 death certificate for Sneha would solidify proof of the best-case scenario. Her mother expresses, “I don’t have even a grain of hope that she’s alive or that anything else happened to her.” Ansu continues to say, “It’s more peaceful for me to think she died in the World Trade Center than . . . I cannot bear to think that somebody killed her” (Fass). Due to her medical background, her residence in lower Manhattan, and her frequent actions, she most likely died trying to help the victims of the attack. In 2008, Sneha Anne Philip became the 2,751 victim listed on the 9/11 terrorist attack memorial (Sweeney). Unfortunately, unlike the many who passed on 9/11, her family had to endure disturbing accusations about their loved one’s personal life and dispute court decisions on a consistent basis.