6. Troubled Queen

An ex-boss paints Sneha as a turbulent genius.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's a cliche truism that any time a sympathetic victim
disappears or is killed, there beatified by the press and
the public. So and so was innocent and kind. They
loved animals, They smiled all the time, the angelic aura descends.
They are good and our villains quiet, angry, a loner,

(00:26):
a weirdo. They wore black, and there's always that one
neighbor who just knew something was off. What we choose
to remember about someone, especially someone we don't personally know,
often depends more on the circumstances of their death or
disappearance than on who they actually were. That bipolar framework,

(00:48):
good versus evil flattens the missing and the dead into
two dimensional caricatures, robbing them of context. With this case,
you might ask, well, why dig into snakehouse life? I
get it, But who she was? She was a hero,
a victim, a dichotomy, aren't we all in the absence

(01:09):
of evidence. What's most important to me is that Sna
is missing, not was is. If there's a non nine
eleven explanation for her disappearance, which is possible, it's a
disservice to write her off as a saint Boom case closed.
I think it's important to look at sna to really

(01:31):
look at her, not for the sake of sensationalism, not
to judge her, to understand her, to understand why alternative
explanations makes sense, or to rule them out. From my
Heart Radio, this is missing on nine eleven, The story

(01:53):
of one woman who vanished on the eve of history
and my quest to find her. I'm your host, John
wall Sack. The speculation about snay House sexuality about her

(02:31):
love life started when her younger brother John told n
y p D Detective Richard Stark that shortly before nine
eleven he walked in on snay Hat having sex with
his girlfriend. John later denied telling that to Stark. In fact,
he denied even speaking to Stark. Ever, Stark laughed when
I told him this, Why would he make it up?

(02:52):
When that accusation became public, tabloids ran wild with headlines
like nine eleven trist twist is snay How bisexual? Was
she a lesbian? Was she having affairs? People close to
Snayhawk confirmed to me that she did have relationships with
both men and women, and she did have affairs. At first,

(03:13):
I thought Ron and sna Ha had some kind of
open marriage, but no, Ron wasn't cool with it. As
for snay haus sexuality, who cares. I don't know how
she identified, so I'm not going to label her end
of story. But the state of her marriage, well, yeah,
that matters, because nobody knows where sne Ha stayed the

(03:36):
night of September t with whom, or why she didn't
tell anyone where she was going to piece together her
final hours if she died, we need to answer those questions.
Earlier this year, I interviewed one of sna has former supervisors,
a doctor who agreed to speak with me on the
condition that I refer to her only as Dr E.

(04:00):
Dr E met snay in two thousand at Cabrini Medical
Center in Manhattan. Snay was extremely brilliant, she said, charming
and manipulative, someone who seemed to have problems with both
mental illness and substance abuse. Dr E speculated that snay
Ha was bipolar, repeatedly describing her as quote hyper sexual.

(04:23):
She said that snay Haaw tried to sleep with both
her and her ex husband. Snay Haw was artistic and
an excellent writer. Dr E liked. She described her as
quote like a stoner According to Dr E, snay Hall
was not the doctor type. She didn't want to be
a doctor. Dr E said that at least once snay

(04:45):
Ha showed up to work intoxicated. She described her as
a binge, a holic. She also said, and this is
something I heard from many other people, that snay Hawk
could be quote off, not appropriate and vulgar. That she
casually and frequently used words like pussy and inappropriate situations
to dry. It seemed that snay how I was unhappy,

(05:07):
that she was trying to escape something. 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, what was her personality like? Like if
you could she word to walk into the room and
start speaking with you, what was she like as outspoken,
sometimes using curse words, you know, a little outspoken. Sometimes

(05:31):
you get the feeling that it was worth shock value.
So can you describe her to me? Physically beautiful Indian, petite,
dark shiny hair, glossy, light, dark skinned and so and
you say intelligent? Um, extreme intelligence, not that it was

(05:54):
always used in the course of her work day. Um,
because wasn't always into her work. Is the feeling that
I got. What do you mean by that? She would
show up, Um, 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. Did you get

(06:15):
the feeling that she wanted to be a doctor? Absolutely not.
She did not, and actually she had voiced it to
me on many occasions. Kind of felt pushed into it. Um,
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, you see, artistic side. Was she

(06:38):
into painting? Writing? What was she into writing? Beautifully? Writing?
Also drawing, sketching things like that? Did she ever make
you any art? She didn't make me art, but she
was very generous and the fact that I'm not a
good writer, so she volunteered and invited me to her
apartment to help me with one of a writing assignment

(07:00):
it that I needed for a type of application. So
did she edit for you or well? I basically told
her what I wanted to say, and the way that
she had of writing it was a very poetic, you know,
almost like pros. Did she tell you at any point
that she was thinking about quitting medicine? The feeling I got,

(07:21):
and then in addition to the things she'd say about
I don't want to be here, gave me the idea
that she wishes there were way out but kind of
feeling trapped, and she was like, I don't want to
be here. So it's almost like I understood it as
she's feeling trapped for whatever reason. Um, what do you
think happened to her? It's my opinion. It's always been

(07:46):
my opinion since I heard about nine eleven 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
my opinion based on her actions. And I felt like
she's the type of person that was so so incredibly

(08:08):
smart that if she wanted something to happen, she could
make it happen. So, UM, I don't feel like she
was a victim of nine eleven, but that's just my opinion.
I feel like she may be alive somewhere. Do you
think she had the intelligence to just pull something like that?
Off on the spot and then some how many people

(08:30):
have you met in your life that you would say
had that kind of ability? If you're you're smart, you're
a doctor, I would say maybe three, and she was
one of the three, right, Like a genius mind, you know,
I guess to to kind of dig a little bit
into that when you say a genius mind, are really intelligent? Again,
you know, let's say all doctors are intelligent, but obviously

(08:53):
around a lot of intelligent, smart people. Very different when
I say intelligence, and I also say like socially, she
would read the room. She could read people. Um. I
feel like when a person can read people, you're able
to manipulate them if you want to. So, yes, the
ability to get things done that she wanted done very persuasive.

(09:15):
Did you know her as a friend or was it
purely professional? Both? Like I wouldn't say friend friend but acquaintance.
I mean, she's a very kind person. She was nice
to me, generous, um. But we didn't spend much time
together outside the office, so to speak. But the time
we did spend it was nice. Did she have a

(09:36):
lot of friends, like I had said earlier, a bit
of a loner? I know she was married, So sometimes
doctors in residency don't hang out with other residents as
much if they're married. So you didn't know like any
anyone that you guys mutually knew was like a close
friend of hers or I really, if you asked me

(09:56):
to name her best friend, I wouldn't have a clue.
So what was she like at work as a resident?
What were her duties? And well, how good was she
at her job? I feel like she was efficient and
she got her job done, but it was in a
troubled way in my opinion, because sometimes, like I said,

(10:17):
she would show up to work and not prepared, but
she was always able to do what she wanted to
do in a quick amount of time. So other doctors
may all take all day to get it done and
she'd be in and out. She is efficient when she
wanted to be. When you say not prepared, what did
you personally witness I witnessed alcohol in her breath and

(10:39):
one occasion and had to send her home only one time.
That occasion was regarding alcohol. Other occasions were just really
ill prepared. Um, did you get the feeling or did
you have knowledge that she dealt with mental illness and
or sustained substance of use. I believe that there could

(11:03):
have been some besides the alcohol. I don't have any
proof of that. Did you get the feeling that she
was happy at Gabrini No? No, Like I said earlier,
definitely not. And it became more obvious as the year
went on. You know, it's early in the beginning. Everybody's
kind of excited. It became very obvious that if she

(11:27):
would either show up light or she would show up
with alcohol in her breath at one time, but that
was on the time eye witnessed. I don't know. I
know there were of other issues, like in an academic
nature and also um inappropriate behavior the chief residents were
called I'm aware of, but I don't have the details.
Just inappropriate behavior towards attending staff, like male attending staff.

(11:51):
I know that we were called, UH to also get involved,
and when attending physician UH felt very uncomfortable on at
her advances and we had to ask her to leave
the office. Was that something that you saw repeatedly? So
these are isolated incidents, but more than one, so I

(12:13):
don't know, not multiply, you know, more than one, Huh.
So one of the allegations after she disappeared was that
she was having affairs, that she was sleeping with men,
sleeping with women. Um, did she ever confide in you
or did you ever see anything to substantiate any of that? Well,
I felt on one occasion that she was very sexual

(12:35):
towards me in an inappropriate way for our relationship. And
in addition, my husband at the time also felt like
she was being very sexual towards him on one occasion
and including one of his friends. So there were a
couple occasions where she was just completely inappropriate. Can you

(12:57):
elaborate just what we wish witnessed? You know what we
witnessed our time with her, Like I said, just being
sexual or making sexual advances towards married men, and another
towards you towards your ex husband. What specifically, though, are
you comfortable saying or he did not go into detail

(13:17):
about he was very upset about it and towards you. Yeah,
I'd rather not to say. So. You your gut feeling
is that she is alive, absolutely, Like I don't. I
just uh, maybe there's a tiny part left that I
would think maybe she's not. It would be really unfortunate.

(13:40):
She was a talent um, but I just knowing her personality,
I came to that conclusion. If she is somehow magically
out there listening to this, what would you tell her?
I hope she's happy. That's what I would tell her.
I hope she's happy. It really blew me away that

(14:01):
Dr E, a logical, intelligent person who knew snay who
supervised her, thinks she's alive. She's not alone. Every single
person I interviewed, and I mean every person who knew
snay Ha personally accept her family told me they don't
think nine eleven is the answer. They blame either foul

(14:21):
play or they think she ran away and is alive.

(14:50):
In June of two thousand one, there was an incident
where the police were called to a bar where snay
Ha and um, one of your colleagues, we're out with
a group from Cabrini. Were you there? It was not No.
I just I'm aware of the incident though, and so
the allegation that snay How made was that your colleague

(15:12):
assaulted her, and then she recanted that allegation. Obviously I
wasn't there, so I feel uncomfortable passing any kind of
judgment whether or not it was true, but she recanted
to the police and then she was charged um with
making a false accusation. Do you have any doubt that
the accusation was false? You believe at all? Do you

(15:34):
believe the allegation that she made that she was assaulted
by your colleague? No, I don't. I don't. I just
don't believe it because the person that she was accusing
at the time was a close personal friend as well
as colleague. So that being said, knowing the personality types,
what would be more apt to happen? Would I say

(15:54):
that it was probably a false statement. On June one,
two thousand only eight two days before eleven, snay went
out with co workers to a bar near Cabrini. At
the bar, she said one of her male supervisors followed
her into a bathroom, pushed himself onto her, and tried
to kiss her. She said that she shoved the doctor away. Coincidentally,

(16:19):
at the time, snay Haw, the doctor ron, and the
doctor's wife all lived in the same apartment building, a
building for medical residents. They actually lived on the same floor,
according to the n y p D. The night of
the alleged assault, snayhow went back to the doctor's apartment,
pushed open his door, sat on his couch, and refused

(16:41):
to leave. The Next day, after filing an official complaint,
she allegedly called the doctor's wife three times, despite repeated
request that she stopped calling. According to the n y
p D, a few days after that, snay Haaw called
the doctor five times at work. She said, and this
is written in all caps and the report I obtained

(17:03):
quote if you don't want to speak to me, I'm
going to funk you up when I see you in
the street. Finally, according to NYPD records, on June two one,
five days after the alleged assault, snay recanted. She told
a detective that quote, she was not sexually abused. This
is why I'm not naming the doctors say accused of assault.

(17:26):
I did reach out to him, but he did not
respond to interview requests anyway. After snayha recanted, she was
charged with one count of second degree criminal trustpass, two
counts of second degree aggravated harassment, one count of third
degree assault, one count of third degree falsely reporting an incident,
and three counts of second degree harassment. D NYPD arrested

(17:48):
snay Haa. She spent one night in jail. This is
when Ron and snay Ha hired attorney Mark Friedberg. This
is why Sna was in criminal court on the morning
of September ten, two thousand one, hours before she disappeared.
DIDNA have any enemies? I don't know of any. I
wouldn't know, but nobody from any kind of advances or

(18:12):
anything that happened at the with anybody at Cabrini. Who
would have I mean, for example, like what your colleague
who she accused, could be considered an enemy, right, No,
I wouldn't. He's the type of person that you know
is above a law. I mean, not above law, is
by the law. And um. What I would say is

(18:32):
he's kind of straight and narrow. That's what I mean,
like by the law, not a law. Um. And so
I feel like once it's something is resolved that he
would move on because he was more career oriented than
did he tell you that? Did he describe what happened?
Did he was? He really upset at the whole thing.
I did not get the details. I just remember him

(18:54):
confiding to me that he had these allegations against him
snake House housemend Ron late her said she was miserable
at Cabrini In May two thousand one, Cabrini let her
contract expire. Technically she wasn't fired, but for all intents
and purposes, she was. One of the things that uh
Snaeha and Ron said after something how left Cabrini was

(19:17):
that there was an issue of racism and sexism at Cabrini,
that it was very much a male dominated place, and
that they felt, in part that her contract was not
renewed um out of a sense of racism towards her
and possibly a sense of sexism. Did you did you

(19:37):
see that? Do you do you think there's any legitimacy
to that claim? I can't think of anything further from
the truth. I actually recall, first of all, I think
there were two female chief residents in one male, so
that's not male damnonate dominated. And then also the residency
staff included vast ray you know, a different cultures and

(20:03):
different races. Um. I remember just one instance after nine eleven,
and there was a guy from Afghanistan and the staff
just enveloped him and hugged him and baked cookies for him,
and you know, just absolutely the opposite. You know, there
were so many different races a lot of Hispanics though
people from Puerto Rico as well. Um, I cannot remember.

(20:27):
And also I was kind of in awe of that
at this place was very cohesive. People just kind of
rallied around each other. And you didn't see the clicks
that I had seen in other either groups or offices
or hospitals, and you might see, like, you know, this
group stays together, this nationality stays together. It was completely
the opposite. So you are working there as a woman

(20:50):
in a supervisory capacity. You didn't have any issues none.
Did you ever meet her husband? Raw just a couple
of times, like very briefly, Like I couldn't really comment
one on him except for his appearance kind of a
little bit shy. So she seemed very outgoing and cool,
and he was kind of what quiet, quiet, shy, maybe

(21:10):
a little nerdy to me? Smart? Smart? Did stay, however,
confide anything else in you? Did she talk about her family?
Did she do? I know it's been twenty years and
it's it's been a while now, but do you have
any clear memories. I just remember her confiding in me
about not being happy in her current position, feeling pressured,

(21:33):
whether there was pressure or not from her family, but
feeling pressured to become a doctor and then realizing she
didn't really want to become one is what she confided
in me. Also about in her marriage, she just she
wasn't that happy. I didn't get many details, just not
feeling like that was maybe the one. Did she ever

(21:54):
tell you that she was thinking about leaving or running off? No,
so she never did give me any future plans. But
I did see an increase in UM, irregular behavior, inappropriate behavior,
So it was like from zero and then just kept
increasing over the last few months before she left. Uh

(22:16):
like a person you might call a person who's um
a little bit chaotic or maybe not have everything together,
who was getting worse. In the middle of our interview,
Dry pulled out her cell phone, dialed her ex husband
and put him on speaker. I asked him about snay Haa.

(22:37):
His description was so similar to Dr Ease that I
suspected they spoke before I got there, But he said
they didn't. He spoke freely, but didn't want his voice
to appear on the show, so we're using an actor.
She was a pretty girl. I think she was trying
to escape the life that she had. I don't think

(22:57):
she was happy with her life at that point, meaning
not that she would take her life, but almost like
someone who's forced to do something like maybe become a
doctor and married, and just wasn't happy in everything that
was going on in her world at the time. He
and doctor He lived in an apartment building across the
street from Ron and Snah. He said repeatedly that Snayhouse

(23:21):
seemed unhappy. I've always worked in sales my whole life
and am very much a people person, and I read
that right away on her. I just remember her not
being happy with her life, and I know she disappeared.
I'm not saying that she I don't think she would
take her life. She wasn't that type of unhappy. More,

(23:42):
she just wanted to change her life. She wanted to
change a big change, a major change. And do I
think she was suicidal or anything like that because she
was unhappy, Absolutely not. I think she loved life, she
just wasn't happy with the type of work, just her
whole situation at that point in her life, in that
time frame. I kind of thought when she disappeared, I

(24:03):
thought maybe she had done that on purpose, because it
was a way out. The last time he and dry saw.
Snay Ha was around May two thousand one when snay
House contract that Cabrini ended. After Cabrini, snay Hawk got
a job at St. Vincent's medical Center on Staten Island,
where she worked for only ten weeks before nine eleven.

(24:24):
According to retired NYPD detective Richard Stark, snay has struggled
there too. By nine eleven, he said she was on
modified duty. This is yet another point of contention between
snay House family and the NYPD. Ron said that snay
Ha was happy at St. Vincent's, everything was fine. As
to her mental health, he testified that she was not depressed,

(24:47):
but he also testified that sna was seeing a therapist,
and on September two thousand one, when he filed a
complaint with the NYPD, Ron immediately noted that Snayhau was
taking to Russian medication and that she was a victim
of sexual assault, indicating he was worried about her mental state. Later,

(25:07):
he testified that right after nine eleven he looked for
snay and psychiatric institutions because quote, maybe she saw something
that just damaged her mind. On the other hand, Ken
go ont Ron's a private investigator testified that he found
quote no information that Miss Philip was depressed or upset.

(25:29):
It's hard, maybe even impossible, to reconcile these statements. Say
was happy, she was seeing a therapist, she was in
a good place mentally, she was on depression meds. She
was not suicidal, but her husband searched for her in
psychiatric hospitals, worried that she saw something eleven that made

(25:49):
her snap. By Ron's own account, Snay was dealing with depression,

(26:20):
she was seeing a therapist, and she was taking medication.
And Ron was concerned enough about snay has mental state
that he looked for her in psychiatric hospitals. At the
beginning of this show, I said, there are four possible
logical explanations as to what may have happened to Snay
Haaven murder, suicide that she ran off. In my opinion,

(26:44):
only one can be written off right away. Suicide. It
makes no sense to me or anyone I interviewed. Snay
have very well may have been depressed, but I mean
so are Brazilian other people. Let's say she did die suicide, Well,
where is her body? She lived in Manhattan. Maybe you're

(27:05):
thinking she just jumped off a bridge into a river,
the Hudson or the East. But that makes no sense
because again, her body was never found, and the bodies
of people who die by jumping off of bridges in
New York typically are found. I asked Detective Stark if
he thinks anything other than nine eleven, including suicide, makes

(27:27):
any sense today. Do you think there's a possibility that
there's possibly an alternate explanation other than nine eleven? Do
you think there's any possibility of suicide, foul play, or
that she ran off or do you feel personally satisfied
with eleven as the as the most likely answer? I
feel personally satisfied at nine eleven because she would have

(27:48):
turned up by now a DNA, she was found in
the river, which which is you know, well she went
in the river, she definitely would have been found. Think
about what we know. Snay spent the afternoon of the
day she disappeared repotting orchids, cleaning her apartment and talking
to her mom via instant messenger. Then she went to

(28:10):
a department store. After that, what she jumped off a
bridge and was never found. I don't think so. So Again,
in my opinion, out of the four possible explanations about
what could have happened to snay Ha. Suicide is the
easiest to rule out. September seven, two thousand one, the

(28:31):
Friday before snay House, mom Onto visits her her apartment
near the World Trade Center. Ron has to work, so
snay Ha and Anso hang out all night. They have
Chinese food, walk around Battery Park, and watch the movie
The Portrait of a Lady I Should probably never marry.

(28:53):
Is getting a great deal, but it's giving up other chances.
Just what usual chances in danger. In the movie, Isabel Archer,
played by the everluminescent Nicole Kitman, ends up in a
bad marriage with a man in Florence, Italy. Coincidentally, Florence
is where lived in the nineties when she took time

(29:14):
off from med school to paint. It's also where Ron
proposed to her, and it's where she dreamed of living.
In the Portrait of a Lady, Isabel's cousin warns her,
and I'm quoting Wikipedia here that she's quote giving up
her dreams to be in a cage with a worthless husband.
In the end, Isabel flees her husband The Portrait of

(29:39):
a Lady Do You know where you're going, Isabel Archer,
and I find it very pleasant not to know. After
the movie, snay On Anzu go to sleep. The next morning,
around seven or eight am, Ron gets home, Anto sees
him walks through the door. That day, Ron, snay Ha,
and Anto talk for a while, then take another walk

(30:02):
around Battery Park. Then Onto goes home and Ron and
snay Hawk go to a party where Ron plays guitar. Sunday,
September nine, forty eight hours until the world changes, Ron
and Snayhaw roller blade. They start cleaning their apartment and
snay How uses an entire roll of film to photograph orchids.

(30:25):
This is how snay Hou's final weekend played out the
day's leading up to nine and nine eleven. As to
her state of mind that weekend, two people offered different opinions.
Snay House mom Onto said that Snayhow was in very
good spirits, talking about kids and starting a family, but
one of snay house friends said that she was brooding

(30:47):
angry with the doctors at Cabrini. So, like so much else,
contradictions and no clarity. But even if snay Haw was
brooding and angry, suicide still does not make sense. There's
no body. That's what this comes down to. So I
think we can safely rule out suicide. What's harder to

(31:09):
rule out is foul play. Next time on missing on
nine eleven, are open that he possibly did something to
him that was that was on the table too in
the beginning homework. Did you see or speak with snay
Haa in the days leading up to nine eleven? If so,

(31:29):
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 four seven seven, or you can
reach us via email at tips at I heeart media
dot com. That's tips T I P s at I

(31:51):
heeart media dot com. If you're having thoughts about suicide,
please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at one eight
hundred two seven three talk. That's one two seven three
eight to five five. If you can, please donate to
the lifeline. Go to Suicide Prevention Lifeline dot org slash donate.

(32:13):
Also in this episode, we discussed the conflict between Snak,
who said she was sexually assaulted, and the NYPD, who
said she recanted. Studies show that sometimes sexual assault victims
we can't under pressure from law enforcement lacking additional information,
I don't think it's my place to judge either snay
HAA or the NYPD, which is why I told you

(32:35):
only what I know what I found in official records.
Ben Bollen is our executive producer. Paul Decan is our
supervising producer, Chris Brown is our assistant producer, Seth Nicholas
Johnson is our producer. Sam T. Garden is our research assistant,
and I'm your host and executive producer John Walsack. Cover
art by Pam Peacock. Special thanks to Tamika Campbell at

(32:57):
iHeart and to Christoph Zappery in New Orleans. So thank
you to Dr E, her husband, Detective Richard Stark, and
ASoP Rock. Original theme music by ASoP Rock. Check out
Asop's website at ASoP rock dot com. Dr E's ex
husband voiced by Chandler Mays. You can find me on
Twitter at at John wallzac j O n W A

(33:18):
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 I Heart Radio and Greenfork Media.