May 26, 2021 • 27 mins
Chaos breaks out 900 feet from Sneha's apartment.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
H H. This episode contains original nine eleven audio, including
emergency dispatch tapes that listeners may find disturbing. Listener discretion
is advised. Nine eleven, four oh five am, Lower Manhattan
(00:22):
is quiet. The Twin towers still stand glittering n feet
southwest of the Towers of Phone Rings. Someone inside Dr
Ron Lieberman's apartment calls his cell phone. Any other day,
who cares right a forgettable call? But today Later Ron
(00:44):
tells police that he has no memory of making the call,
but he's alone in the apartment. His wife, Dr. Snaha
and Philip never came home last night, so it must
have been him who made the call, he says. Best
guests half asleep, he used the landline to call his
cell to see if snay Hall left him a voicemail.
(01:05):
She didn't. When he went to bed around midnight, Ron
figured snay Hall was probably with her cousin Anu or
her younger brother John, both of whom lived nearby, but
he didn't call on you or John. Instead, he went
to sleep. For my Heart Media, This is Missing on
(01:43):
nine eleven, The story of one woman who vanished on
the eve of history and my quest to find her.
I'm your host John Waalzac. Before we go any further,
(02:21):
let me orient you geographically. The key spots in this
story are clumped together only blocks apart, and it's important
that you have some sense of place. So take a minute.
Open Google Maps. First look up the World Trade Center.
And just to be clear, the World Trade Center was
a complex. The Twin Towers were part of the World
(02:43):
Trade Center. Now search for these three addresses to Rector
place nine feet southwest of the World Trade Center. This
is Ron and Stay Has apartment building Courtland Street, just
east of the Trade Center. This is century twenty one.
The department store, the last place that we know of
(03:04):
where snay was seen alive. And eighty eight Greenwich Street,
six hundred feet east of Ron and snay House building
and nine hundred feet southeast of the Trade Center. This
is where snay house younger brother John lived, where Ron
thought she may have stayed the night nine eleven. Around
(03:25):
six am, Ron gets up for work six nineteen. Someone
at the apartment gets online for about thirty seconds six thirty.
By this point, Ron had to be at the Bowling
Green subway station, about a ten minute walk from his apartment,
to catch a train north toward the Bronx, where he
(03:46):
worked at Jacobi Medical Center. He had an eight am
meeting six thirty two sunrise sometime between seven and nine.
According to Ron, this is when Snayha would typically come
home after unexpectedly staying out for the night. Seven fifty nine,
(04:06):
American Airlines Flight eleven takes off from Boston eight o'clock.
Ron's work meeting starts. Terrorists hijack American eleven. At the
same time, United Airlines Flight one takes off from Boston.
American Airlines Flight seventy seven takes off from Washington. Terrorists
(04:33):
hijack United Airlines flight one. United flight nine takes off
from Newark. A security camera captures the woman in the
lobby of two Rector Place, Ron and Snayhouse apartment building.
She lingers then walks out the front door. Whether or
(04:54):
not the woman is snay Ha is a matter of contention,
an NYPD detective says us. Her family says, no, it's
hard to tell. Sunlight streams in, there's glare, and the
woman is grainy. I don't know where you were at
this exact moment, if you were even alive, but I
(05:16):
was in an eighth grade art class and carry north Carolina.
Nine eleven changed my life. It's why I went into journalism.
A year earlier, on July, I visited the towers with
my grandparents and brother. That day, I captured video from
the plaza between the towers and from inside the South
(05:37):
tower two minutes and forty seconds. As I reported this story,
I watched it repeatedly, whoa little trade? I zoom into
the top of the South Tower, then panned down. Grandma,
what do you have to say, Grandma? Too good? Four
(05:58):
cent m. I was born on I turned thirteen on
nine eight oh one. I was a teenager in pre
nine eleven America for only seventy two hours. Flight eleven
(06:40):
crashes into the North tower of the World Trade Center.
An FBI informant taking part in a sting operation at
the Marriott World Trade Center between the twin towers serendipitously
captures this audio. One we just had a plane and
(07:04):
grew up before the World Trade Center transmitted, second and
starting a little rating companies into the area. Terrorist hijack
American seventy seven. Yeah, I he thought she fell a
fower from the two. One Yeah, you guys should call them.
They're hating dispatch and let him. Know, I have never
(07:24):
seen so much smoke coming through a film as I
see from the World's Trade and a by the water Funny.
It's unbelievable. They about are on the news stations. Uh,
they only gave a second on this is like set
the longest sey on it. Uh. You should go to
a fifth instantly with the ego. See the side of
up building. It looks like, uh, the numerous flows exploded out.
It's it's it's insane right now as somebody ansder every
(07:48):
available the abolist that they could possibly get over there,
this is gonna be, uh, the event of the century.
Eight ft two people start jumping from the towers Emergency
responders Russian around nine at Jacoby Medical Center in the
(08:10):
Bronx Ron. Lieberman's work meeting ends here. He is on
Unsolved Mysteries. After the meeting that came outside and we
saw the TVs were on, and uh we saw the
first plane hit. So I immediately went and called home
and there was just the message machine on nine O
two North. Another plane, another plane, another plane was another plane,
(08:42):
another plane. All right, I'm hanging on and I'm going
down there. United one seventy five crashes into the South
Tower of the World Trade Center A no, no accident.
(09:11):
I think they go to done tape. Luke Kushin, a
Canadian artist, captures this dramatic footage from Rector Place south
of the towers. Take a minute to google his video.
Luke l you see Kushin ce ou r c h
E s n E see the towers. Okay, now to
(09:34):
the left, see that brick building. That's Rector Place, Ron
and snayhouse building in the lobby is resident manager Juan FIGAROA.
I remember hearing like a loud boom, and I heard
over the radio, Um Jose Pard, who was my handy
man at the time, Um screaming over the radio saying
(09:58):
they hit the building, they hit the building. And I
was like, what is he talking about? What is he
talking about? And as I went outside through the back door,
and I've looked up, I saw that there was a
hole at the in the World Trade untem And all
of a sudden my phone rang and it happens to
(10:21):
be my daughter who had just given birth uh to
a to a baby boy. And she says, oh my god,
oh my god, that's hold And I said, Okay, you
gotta come downstairs right away. I told you gotta come downstairs.
You and your sister gotta come downstairs right away. One
not only works at Rector, he lives there too, sharing
(10:44):
a ninth floor apartment with his wife, two daughters, and
baby grandson. On nine eleven, his wife is at work,
but his daughters are home upstairs as pandemonium breaks out
at the World Trade Center only nine feet away and
six five two very six five soil. We got another
one at the World Traded the additional two building. Uh huh,
(11:09):
I don't know why you get to keep on though
a new one. Yeah, this is a different one and
it's confirmed. Oh okay, okay, all right, asked herz alright, one,
it's okay. Another plane now, not the plane. This is
a new hole, new thing now, Oh okay, all right.
(11:32):
Holds going on. They're saying it might be a telliecise.
Oh okay, it has to be because one are the other?
Two planes clashed into the same building. Okay, South, Hi, South,
do you guys are busy? Yeah, there's a Jennifer. Yeah, hi, honey,
(11:56):
what's up? There's like any major disaster going on in
the like? Are you in the whole money? Two planes
went into the World Trade Center? Really, yes, where have
you been? Where are you? I'm stuck on the frybar.
I can't don't go it. Okay, well I have I
have a blast because you'll be there for quite a
long time. Are you? You got lights and signs? I
(12:18):
don't know? That's all around me everywhere I was going?
What was going on? Two Turkish planes went into the
World Trade Center. We got like sixty four units on
this assignment already. A right, how are my honey? If
you can make your way anywhere, let me know? Okay,
all right, o, goodbye bye. At Jacobe Medical Center in
(12:38):
the Bronx bron Lieberman's Hospital, doctors start preparing for a
surge of severely injured patients. Ron Laws here, how are
you doing? How you Cannon? How are you doing? All right? First,
chef callie. Only trauma patients have to be brought into Jacobe,
and I guess say one of trauma centers. Okay, iss
mine me anything that is not critical? Is that to
(13:00):
your lawco Alright? Okay, you got it. But ambulances continue
to drop off patients with minor injuries. Bro oh yeah,
it's like the bed over at North Central Ground c
d uh spoke with Jacobe. Uh, you know they're getting
still getting samina cases. Is it possible to have them
diverted to here at m CBS. I've just announced that,
(13:20):
re announced it twice. Okay for old units only the
um bring trauma into Jacobe. We're available, rampy, all right, hey, thanks,
bye bye. Jacoby administrators are upset. No one seems to
be listening. They emptied out the e er to make
space for severe cases fed upon the city. Wife Stock Lombardi.
(13:43):
I was speaking to the other receptionist earlier. I'm at Jacoby.
She there to ROSSI whatever her name is, Corosi Terick
uh andandah. I don't know when she that right now?
All right, um, so here's my problem. Um, you know
we're at Jacoby Level one traumas the hyper ballot burn
center I cleaned out the offer is you know any
(14:04):
possible patients I asked for diversions or anything else. They're
rolling in here with bullshit. I think it's a big mistake. Correct,
you know what I'm saying? So I would like to
well all that for those right now it's it's open.
I'll tell you what. When Captain to Open gets a chance,
let me give you a phone number and haven't called me. Okay, Hi, guys,
(14:26):
cap Gay Lombardi to Telloby. Now you doing it to
bring up the date. I empty the whole we are,
we're trying to empty out the burn unit. Um. I
just asking if you don't send us any bullshit in
the meantime, we can help you with whatever you need. Okay,
all right, we'll sharing bankside. Man in Manhattan, actor Juan Figaroa,
is frantically trying to evacuate his family. So I grabbed
(14:48):
my grandson and my daughter and I took him towards
the water. And I happened to as I'm walking hearing
my daughter saying, my older daughter who's against the fence
of course the building, saying I'm gonna die here, I'm
gonna die here. And luckily we were able to get
her to the water. And then I went back to
the building and started evacuating the entire building. So you
(15:12):
did you how did you guys evacuate the building? Did
you go door to door? What did you do? Exactly?
Door to door? We went from the top all the
way down, door to door. Um. There was another gentleman, actually,
would U say as well? His name was Julio Esteves.
So it was Julio Estevees, Felix Sagon and Krol and
myself and we just started knocking on people's door, just
(15:34):
trying to rush people out of the building. Terrorists hijack United.
They just hit the Pentagon in Washington. Yeah, and and
and they just had a fire in one of the
more at Washington. American seventy seven crashes into the Pentagon.
(16:01):
Look at that. Look at that that build that's coming down.
The South tower collapses. Oh. A man named Brandon Marcus
captures this footage pause Google it Brandon Marcus video as
the tower falls. Look at the bottom left corner. That's
(16:25):
Rector Place, Ron and Snayhouse building Hotly Ship that was
oh ship. Juan Figaroa, the resident manager, is in the
lobby Ofctor. It was so loud, but it was like
(16:47):
like an extremely loud clap and just it just kept
on happy right like just something like like you know,
it's kind of weird. I don't know how to explain it,
um but it was very it loud and just going
do like something just kept on pulling down. Eighteen seconds
after the tower starts to collapse, a massive cloud of
(17:10):
pulverized concrete steel, office furniture paper, and people reaches and
consumes to rector plays one in the lobby panics. His coworker,
Julio Estevez, is still stuck on the roof. And then
all of a sudden, I see the rush of the smoke,
of of the breech, just rushing into the lobby where
(17:33):
you couldn't see barely anymore. You know, it's just I
got really dark too fast and and too quickly. And
uh and then the guy that was up on the
roof just ran down the stars and he ran out
the building. Yeah, it's just screaming on the radio for
thirteen because the building't just collapsed on them? Are you
(17:54):
hitting me now? Now? Whole builder's guns all right? Really,
you don't know what it's like the pass. I can
only imagine the whole fucking city full of smoke right
now from holy ship is this thing full night? And
it's all right through the middle down the whole silting collapse.
(18:16):
Look at a brown laterate one of the towers just collapsed.
Everyone's gotta be inside. Yes, we got leave. See that
transition later and one of the towers collapse. He's got
to be either incided. There's gonna be powers of people
in coal Town. One of the how do one of
the towers just came down the top of everybody? I
mean that anyway, So I stuck the church on the
(18:38):
medical affairs, uh on the towers on the towers just collapsed,
and I know I can't tell what the extent of
the damages, but there is a complete white out from
the dusk through the tower. Okay, Uh, we have to
have pancial and I used stressed stantial having more and
(18:58):
most of our resources at the scene play um, and
we have to talk commando. Thank you out of that
and Guvin who was hey Doland Charson loses Alan charleson? Yes, yes,
and we just lost part of the towers, yes, last yes,
and now we have a complete white out. Yes, we
(19:20):
have an evential for having voice a significant amount of
our resources. Right, I am not able to raise anybody
who's in command at this point. I don't know if
you can. It's all fragmented because of this. So that's
about all the information I have for your right, Uh sloy,
If you can't raise anybody, where are you hold on
(19:43):
the where is the player? Yeah? I'm on a restaurant
in Coltman Broadway. It was so bad I could not
even see the building. Understood, understood, all right, all right, Uh,
I'm gonna start heading back down there, already done to
see what I can do. All right, all right. In
(20:03):
the Bronx, Ron Lieberman watched his catastrophe unfold on live TV.
When the billains came down, everyone was just you know,
people were crying but still trying to work, and it
was a very very emotional time, I think, obviously for
everyone that call back again about ten o'clock in the morning,
still just the message when she was on, and then
after that the phones went dead. Ron can't find snay
(20:26):
Hawk ten oh three United nine crashes into a field
near shainks Full, Pennsylvania. Fucking bad. This is really bad.
Which it's so it's terrible, terrible. You gotta go fucking crazy.
You know that you ain't gotta go suck up the jerk.
Well I know it is, okay, goodbye Wow. At Rector,
(20:52):
a police officer choking on dust calls okay eight one
to hi. This is see one four seven off in
Manhattan at two to five rector place in Manhattan, right, yes,
two to five rector. Yes, as an R E C
(21:15):
T O R. That's correct, Rector plate. The call up
hung up. Yes, what they tell you. It's a police officer.
He's on the first floor. He has the faculty breathing
(21:36):
n on age. I know the North Tower collapses. My
heart is in my groves. Is the worst thing I've
ever seen. I get a life, a man at all.
I want to kill him. A job in the World
Trade Center is no longer floors. Okay. I can not
(21:57):
believe both of them. They both have Then it came
down on firefight. I know that, I know that I
had been the job. Ron Lieberman worries that snayhow was
in their apartment when the towers fell. I was frightened
from my wife because I couldn't get in touch with her.
I was sad what happened, devastated by the whole situation.
(22:17):
You know, there's so many emotions. Everyone isn't shock and
where's my wife? I don't know. The crush of severely
(22:49):
injured patients never materializes at Jacoby or any other hospital.
Around three PM, Ron hops into an ambulance and heads
into Lower Manhattan. At the same time, Juan figaroa, the
resident manager at Rector finally evacuates. He catches a boat
to New Jersey. Between three and four, Ron calls snay
(23:12):
has mom a zoo. She hasn't heard from snay haa.
No one has seven. World Trade at seven story office
building collapses. Manhattan is chaos and gridlock. Ron's journey south
(23:34):
from the Bronx only fifteen miles takes five to six hours.
Early evening. Somewhere north of the World Trade Center, Ron
jumps out of the ambulance. He walks the rest of
the way to Rector Place in scrubs. He slips through
barricades and walks into carnage. The scene down there, it
(23:55):
was just chaos. There was this one of the most
scariest sites of was seen in my life. As I
started approaching my apartment building, I started seeing trucks blown up,
fire engines turned upside down, pieces of the building order
what looked like the building on the ground. Also seven
eleven sunset, thirty good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our
(24:23):
way of life, our very freedom came under attack in
a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. President George W.
Bush addresses the nation. As he speaks, Ron Lieberman walks
south even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of Death, I fear no evil, for you are
(24:44):
with me. Past smoldering steel and a frenetic search for survivors.
Between nine and ten, Ron arrives at Rector Place. The
back door is chained shut, the power is out, the
bill thing has been evacuated, but at least one tenant
remains inside. Ron flashes a light to that person, calls
(25:06):
up to them and asked them to check his ensnay
has apartment to see if Snaya is there. She isn't.
Next time on Missing one eleven, and then I saw
her name, and then I put it together. Wait a minute, this,
I think this has to be her. I mean it
(25:28):
looks like her. I think it looks like it looks
like what I remember. It looks like the person I
remember homework one. Did you live at Rector Place one eleven?
We'd love to hear from you. In particular, we want
to speak to a tenant named Evan who reportedly filmed
the attacks from the roof two. Do you, or does
(25:51):
anyone you know, have unpublished photos or video taken in
Lower Manhattan one eleven. If so, you can reach us
by phone at one eight three three new Tips that's
one eight three three six, three nine eight four seven
seven again one eight three, three, six, three nine eight
(26:11):
four seven seven, or you can reach us via email
at tips at iHeart media dot com. That's Tips t
I p s at iHeart media dot com. Ben Bowen
is our executive producer. Paul Deckett is our supervising producer,
Chris Brown is our assistant producer, Seth Nicholas Johnson is
our producer. Sam T. Garden is our research assistant, and
(26:34):
I'm your host and executive producer, John Waalsack. Cover art
by Pam Peacock. Special thanks to Tamika Campbell at iHeart
and the Christoph Zappery in New Orleans. Also thank you
to one Figaroa and ASoP Rock. Original theme music by
ASoP Rock. Check out Asop's website at ASoP rock dot com.
Archival audio from Unsolved Mysteries provided by Cosgrove Mirror Productions.
(26:57):
Additional footage captured by Luke Kushen and Brandon Marcus. You
can find me on Twitter at at John wallzac j
O n W A l c z a K. If
you like this show, check out our first season Missing
in Alaska. About the nineteen seventy two. Disappearance of two
congressmen missing on nine eleven is a co production of
(27:18):
iHeart Media and Greenfork Media.
H H. This episode contains original nine eleven audio, including
emergency dispatch tapes that listeners may find disturbing. Listener discretion
is advised. Nine eleven, four oh five am, Lower Manhattan
(00:22):
is quiet. The Twin towers still stand glittering n feet
southwest of the Towers of Phone Rings. Someone inside Dr
Ron Lieberman's apartment calls his cell phone. Any other day,
who cares right a forgettable call? But today Later Ron
(00:44):
tells police that he has no memory of making the call,
but he's alone in the apartment. His wife, Dr. Snaha
and Philip never came home last night, so it must
have been him who made the call, he says. Best
guests half asleep, he used the landline to call his
cell to see if snay Hall left him a voicemail.
(01:05):
She didn't. When he went to bed around midnight, Ron
figured snay Hall was probably with her cousin Anu or
her younger brother John, both of whom lived nearby, but
he didn't call on you or John. Instead, he went
to sleep. For my Heart Media, This is Missing on
(01:43):
nine eleven, The story of one woman who vanished on
the eve of history and my quest to find her.
I'm your host John Waalzac. Before we go any further,
(02:21):
let me orient you geographically. The key spots in this
story are clumped together only blocks apart, and it's important
that you have some sense of place. So take a minute.
Open Google Maps. First look up the World Trade Center.
And just to be clear, the World Trade Center was
a complex. The Twin Towers were part of the World
(02:43):
Trade Center. Now search for these three addresses to Rector
place nine feet southwest of the World Trade Center. This
is Ron and Stay Has apartment building Courtland Street, just
east of the Trade Center. This is century twenty one.
The department store, the last place that we know of
(03:04):
where snay was seen alive. And eighty eight Greenwich Street,
six hundred feet east of Ron and snay House building
and nine hundred feet southeast of the Trade Center. This
is where snay house younger brother John lived, where Ron
thought she may have stayed the night nine eleven. Around
(03:25):
six am, Ron gets up for work six nineteen. Someone
at the apartment gets online for about thirty seconds six thirty.
By this point, Ron had to be at the Bowling
Green subway station, about a ten minute walk from his apartment,
to catch a train north toward the Bronx, where he
(03:46):
worked at Jacobi Medical Center. He had an eight am
meeting six thirty two sunrise sometime between seven and nine.
According to Ron, this is when Snayha would typically come
home after unexpectedly staying out for the night. Seven fifty nine,
(04:06):
American Airlines Flight eleven takes off from Boston eight o'clock.
Ron's work meeting starts. Terrorists hijack American eleven. At the
same time, United Airlines Flight one takes off from Boston.
American Airlines Flight seventy seven takes off from Washington. Terrorists
(04:33):
hijack United Airlines flight one. United flight nine takes off
from Newark. A security camera captures the woman in the
lobby of two Rector Place, Ron and Snayhouse apartment building.
She lingers then walks out the front door. Whether or
(04:54):
not the woman is snay Ha is a matter of contention,
an NYPD detective says us. Her family says, no, it's
hard to tell. Sunlight streams in, there's glare, and the
woman is grainy. I don't know where you were at
this exact moment, if you were even alive, but I
(05:16):
was in an eighth grade art class and carry north Carolina.
Nine eleven changed my life. It's why I went into journalism.
A year earlier, on July, I visited the towers with
my grandparents and brother. That day, I captured video from
the plaza between the towers and from inside the South
(05:37):
tower two minutes and forty seconds. As I reported this story,
I watched it repeatedly, whoa little trade? I zoom into
the top of the South Tower, then panned down. Grandma,
what do you have to say, Grandma? Too good? Four
(05:58):
cent m. I was born on I turned thirteen on
nine eight oh one. I was a teenager in pre
nine eleven America for only seventy two hours. Flight eleven
(06:40):
crashes into the North tower of the World Trade Center.
An FBI informant taking part in a sting operation at
the Marriott World Trade Center between the twin towers serendipitously
captures this audio. One we just had a plane and
(07:04):
grew up before the World Trade Center transmitted, second and
starting a little rating companies into the area. Terrorist hijack
American seventy seven. Yeah, I he thought she fell a
fower from the two. One Yeah, you guys should call them.
They're hating dispatch and let him. Know, I have never
(07:24):
seen so much smoke coming through a film as I
see from the World's Trade and a by the water Funny.
It's unbelievable. They about are on the news stations. Uh,
they only gave a second on this is like set
the longest sey on it. Uh. You should go to
a fifth instantly with the ego. See the side of
up building. It looks like, uh, the numerous flows exploded out.
It's it's it's insane right now as somebody ansder every
(07:48):
available the abolist that they could possibly get over there,
this is gonna be, uh, the event of the century.
Eight ft two people start jumping from the towers Emergency
responders Russian around nine at Jacoby Medical Center in the
(08:10):
Bronx Ron. Lieberman's work meeting ends here. He is on
Unsolved Mysteries. After the meeting that came outside and we
saw the TVs were on, and uh we saw the
first plane hit. So I immediately went and called home
and there was just the message machine on nine O
two North. Another plane, another plane, another plane was another plane,
(08:42):
another plane. All right, I'm hanging on and I'm going
down there. United one seventy five crashes into the South
Tower of the World Trade Center A no, no accident.
(09:11):
I think they go to done tape. Luke Kushin, a
Canadian artist, captures this dramatic footage from Rector Place south
of the towers. Take a minute to google his video.
Luke l you see Kushin ce ou r c h
E s n E see the towers. Okay, now to
(09:34):
the left, see that brick building. That's Rector Place, Ron
and snayhouse building in the lobby is resident manager Juan FIGAROA.
I remember hearing like a loud boom, and I heard
over the radio, Um Jose Pard, who was my handy
man at the time, Um screaming over the radio saying
(09:58):
they hit the building, they hit the building. And I
was like, what is he talking about? What is he
talking about? And as I went outside through the back door,
and I've looked up, I saw that there was a
hole at the in the World Trade untem And all
of a sudden my phone rang and it happens to
(10:21):
be my daughter who had just given birth uh to
a to a baby boy. And she says, oh my god,
oh my god, that's hold And I said, Okay, you
gotta come downstairs right away. I told you gotta come downstairs.
You and your sister gotta come downstairs right away. One
not only works at Rector, he lives there too, sharing
(10:44):
a ninth floor apartment with his wife, two daughters, and
baby grandson. On nine eleven, his wife is at work,
but his daughters are home upstairs as pandemonium breaks out
at the World Trade Center only nine feet away and
six five two very six five soil. We got another
one at the World Traded the additional two building. Uh huh,
(11:09):
I don't know why you get to keep on though
a new one. Yeah, this is a different one and
it's confirmed. Oh okay, okay, all right, asked herz alright, one,
it's okay. Another plane now, not the plane. This is
a new hole, new thing now, Oh okay, all right.
(11:32):
Holds going on. They're saying it might be a telliecise.
Oh okay, it has to be because one are the other?
Two planes clashed into the same building. Okay, South, Hi, South,
do you guys are busy? Yeah, there's a Jennifer. Yeah, hi, honey,
(11:56):
what's up? There's like any major disaster going on in
the like? Are you in the whole money? Two planes
went into the World Trade Center? Really, yes, where have
you been? Where are you? I'm stuck on the frybar.
I can't don't go it. Okay, well I have I
have a blast because you'll be there for quite a
long time. Are you? You got lights and signs? I
(12:18):
don't know? That's all around me everywhere I was going?
What was going on? Two Turkish planes went into the
World Trade Center. We got like sixty four units on
this assignment already. A right, how are my honey? If
you can make your way anywhere, let me know? Okay,
all right, o, goodbye bye. At Jacobe Medical Center in
(12:38):
the Bronx bron Lieberman's Hospital, doctors start preparing for a
surge of severely injured patients. Ron Laws here, how are
you doing? How you Cannon? How are you doing? All right? First,
chef callie. Only trauma patients have to be brought into Jacobe,
and I guess say one of trauma centers. Okay, iss
mine me anything that is not critical? Is that to
(13:00):
your lawco Alright? Okay, you got it. But ambulances continue
to drop off patients with minor injuries. Bro oh yeah,
it's like the bed over at North Central Ground c
d uh spoke with Jacobe. Uh, you know they're getting
still getting samina cases. Is it possible to have them
diverted to here at m CBS. I've just announced that,
(13:20):
re announced it twice. Okay for old units only the
um bring trauma into Jacobe. We're available, rampy, all right, hey, thanks,
bye bye. Jacoby administrators are upset. No one seems to
be listening. They emptied out the e er to make
space for severe cases fed upon the city. Wife Stock Lombardi.
(13:43):
I was speaking to the other receptionist earlier. I'm at Jacoby.
She there to ROSSI whatever her name is, Corosi Terick
uh andandah. I don't know when she that right now?
All right, um, so here's my problem. Um, you know
we're at Jacoby Level one traumas the hyper ballot burn
center I cleaned out the offer is you know any
(14:04):
possible patients I asked for diversions or anything else. They're
rolling in here with bullshit. I think it's a big mistake. Correct,
you know what I'm saying? So I would like to
well all that for those right now it's it's open.
I'll tell you what. When Captain to Open gets a chance,
let me give you a phone number and haven't called me. Okay, Hi, guys,
(14:26):
cap Gay Lombardi to Telloby. Now you doing it to
bring up the date. I empty the whole we are,
we're trying to empty out the burn unit. Um. I
just asking if you don't send us any bullshit in
the meantime, we can help you with whatever you need. Okay,
all right, we'll sharing bankside. Man in Manhattan, actor Juan Figaroa,
is frantically trying to evacuate his family. So I grabbed
(14:48):
my grandson and my daughter and I took him towards
the water. And I happened to as I'm walking hearing
my daughter saying, my older daughter who's against the fence
of course the building, saying I'm gonna die here, I'm
gonna die here. And luckily we were able to get
her to the water. And then I went back to
the building and started evacuating the entire building. So you
(15:12):
did you how did you guys evacuate the building? Did
you go door to door? What did you do? Exactly?
Door to door? We went from the top all the
way down, door to door. Um. There was another gentleman, actually,
would U say as well? His name was Julio Esteves.
So it was Julio Estevees, Felix Sagon and Krol and
myself and we just started knocking on people's door, just
(15:34):
trying to rush people out of the building. Terrorists hijack United.
They just hit the Pentagon in Washington. Yeah, and and
and they just had a fire in one of the
more at Washington. American seventy seven crashes into the Pentagon.
(16:01):
Look at that. Look at that that build that's coming down.
The South tower collapses. Oh. A man named Brandon Marcus
captures this footage pause Google it Brandon Marcus video as
the tower falls. Look at the bottom left corner. That's
(16:25):
Rector Place, Ron and Snayhouse building Hotly Ship that was
oh ship. Juan Figaroa, the resident manager, is in the
lobby Ofctor. It was so loud, but it was like
(16:47):
like an extremely loud clap and just it just kept
on happy right like just something like like you know,
it's kind of weird. I don't know how to explain it,
um but it was very it loud and just going
do like something just kept on pulling down. Eighteen seconds
after the tower starts to collapse, a massive cloud of
(17:10):
pulverized concrete steel, office furniture paper, and people reaches and
consumes to rector plays one in the lobby panics. His coworker,
Julio Estevez, is still stuck on the roof. And then
all of a sudden, I see the rush of the smoke,
of of the breech, just rushing into the lobby where
(17:33):
you couldn't see barely anymore. You know, it's just I
got really dark too fast and and too quickly. And
uh and then the guy that was up on the
roof just ran down the stars and he ran out
the building. Yeah, it's just screaming on the radio for
thirteen because the building't just collapsed on them? Are you
(17:54):
hitting me now? Now? Whole builder's guns all right? Really,
you don't know what it's like the pass. I can
only imagine the whole fucking city full of smoke right
now from holy ship is this thing full night? And
it's all right through the middle down the whole silting collapse.
(18:16):
Look at a brown laterate one of the towers just collapsed.
Everyone's gotta be inside. Yes, we got leave. See that
transition later and one of the towers collapse. He's got
to be either incided. There's gonna be powers of people
in coal Town. One of the how do one of
the towers just came down the top of everybody? I
mean that anyway, So I stuck the church on the
(18:38):
medical affairs, uh on the towers on the towers just collapsed,
and I know I can't tell what the extent of
the damages, but there is a complete white out from
the dusk through the tower. Okay, Uh, we have to
have pancial and I used stressed stantial having more and
(18:58):
most of our resources at the scene play um, and
we have to talk commando. Thank you out of that
and Guvin who was hey Doland Charson loses Alan charleson? Yes, yes,
and we just lost part of the towers, yes, last yes,
and now we have a complete white out. Yes, we
(19:20):
have an evential for having voice a significant amount of
our resources. Right, I am not able to raise anybody
who's in command at this point. I don't know if
you can. It's all fragmented because of this. So that's
about all the information I have for your right, Uh sloy,
If you can't raise anybody, where are you hold on
(19:43):
the where is the player? Yeah? I'm on a restaurant
in Coltman Broadway. It was so bad I could not
even see the building. Understood, understood, all right, all right, Uh,
I'm gonna start heading back down there, already done to
see what I can do. All right, all right. In
(20:03):
the Bronx, Ron Lieberman watched his catastrophe unfold on live TV.
When the billains came down, everyone was just you know,
people were crying but still trying to work, and it
was a very very emotional time, I think, obviously for
everyone that call back again about ten o'clock in the morning,
still just the message when she was on, and then
after that the phones went dead. Ron can't find snay
(20:26):
Hawk ten oh three United nine crashes into a field
near shainks Full, Pennsylvania. Fucking bad. This is really bad.
Which it's so it's terrible, terrible. You gotta go fucking crazy.
You know that you ain't gotta go suck up the jerk.
Well I know it is, okay, goodbye Wow. At Rector,
(20:52):
a police officer choking on dust calls okay eight one
to hi. This is see one four seven off in
Manhattan at two to five rector place in Manhattan, right, yes,
two to five rector. Yes, as an R E C
(21:15):
T O R. That's correct, Rector plate. The call up
hung up. Yes, what they tell you. It's a police officer.
He's on the first floor. He has the faculty breathing
(21:36):
n on age. I know the North Tower collapses. My
heart is in my groves. Is the worst thing I've
ever seen. I get a life, a man at all.
I want to kill him. A job in the World
Trade Center is no longer floors. Okay. I can not
(21:57):
believe both of them. They both have Then it came
down on firefight. I know that, I know that I
had been the job. Ron Lieberman worries that snayhow was
in their apartment when the towers fell. I was frightened
from my wife because I couldn't get in touch with her.
I was sad what happened, devastated by the whole situation.
(22:17):
You know, there's so many emotions. Everyone isn't shock and
where's my wife? I don't know. The crush of severely
(22:49):
injured patients never materializes at Jacoby or any other hospital.
Around three PM, Ron hops into an ambulance and heads
into Lower Manhattan. At the same time, Juan figaroa, the
resident manager at Rector finally evacuates. He catches a boat
to New Jersey. Between three and four, Ron calls snay
(23:12):
has mom a zoo. She hasn't heard from snay haa.
No one has seven. World Trade at seven story office
building collapses. Manhattan is chaos and gridlock. Ron's journey south
(23:34):
from the Bronx only fifteen miles takes five to six hours.
Early evening. Somewhere north of the World Trade Center, Ron
jumps out of the ambulance. He walks the rest of
the way to Rector Place in scrubs. He slips through
barricades and walks into carnage. The scene down there, it
(23:55):
was just chaos. There was this one of the most
scariest sites of was seen in my life. As I
started approaching my apartment building, I started seeing trucks blown up,
fire engines turned upside down, pieces of the building order
what looked like the building on the ground. Also seven
eleven sunset, thirty good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our
(24:23):
way of life, our very freedom came under attack in
a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. President George W.
Bush addresses the nation. As he speaks, Ron Lieberman walks
south even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of Death, I fear no evil, for you are
(24:44):
with me. Past smoldering steel and a frenetic search for survivors.
Between nine and ten, Ron arrives at Rector Place. The
back door is chained shut, the power is out, the
bill thing has been evacuated, but at least one tenant
remains inside. Ron flashes a light to that person, calls
(25:06):
up to them and asked them to check his ensnay
has apartment to see if Snaya is there. She isn't.
Next time on Missing one eleven, and then I saw
her name, and then I put it together. Wait a minute, this,
I think this has to be her. I mean it
(25:28):
looks like her. I think it looks like it looks
like what I remember. It looks like the person I
remember homework one. Did you live at Rector Place one eleven?
We'd love to hear from you. In particular, we want
to speak to a tenant named Evan who reportedly filmed
the attacks from the roof two. Do you, or does
(25:51):
anyone you know, have unpublished photos or video taken in
Lower Manhattan one eleven. If so, you can reach us
by phone at one eight three three new Tips that's
one eight three three six, three nine eight four seven
seven again one eight three, three, six, three nine eight
(26:11):
four seven seven, or you can reach us via email
at tips at iHeart media dot com. That's Tips t
I p s at iHeart media dot com. Ben Bowen
is our executive producer. Paul Deckett is our supervising producer,
Chris Brown is our assistant producer, Seth Nicholas Johnson is
our producer. Sam T. Garden is our research assistant, and
(26:34):
I'm your host and executive producer, John Waalsack. Cover art
by Pam Peacock. Special thanks to Tamika Campbell at iHeart
and the Christoph Zappery in New Orleans. Also thank you
to one Figaroa and ASoP Rock. Original theme music by
ASoP Rock. Check out Asop's website at ASoP rock dot com.
Archival audio from Unsolved Mysteries provided by Cosgrove Mirror Productions.
(26:57):
Additional footage captured by Luke Kushen and Brandon Marcus. You
can find me on Twitter at at John wallzac j
O n W A l c z a K. If
you like this show, check out our first season Missing
in Alaska. About the nineteen seventy two. Disappearance of two
congressmen missing on nine eleven is a co production of
(27:18):
iHeart Media and Greenfork Media.
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