It's funny that lesbianism is still an innuendo in NYC. You couldn't get away with writing that kind of stuff in Portland. Seriously.
It's understandable that they can't conclusively determine that she's a 9/11 hero.
But how many doctors -- how many thirty-somethings -- go out for drinks, develop problems with alcohol, and have troubled marriages? Her story doesn't sound like the life of a wild woman who put herself at risk, or at least no more risk than half of the young people in a city on any given evening.
I wonder how salacious my life would look like if I suddenly disappeared.
Cala is exactly right. And this is a great post Becks.
I actually didn't think the story was that bad. The "she had a dark side" transition was lame and arguably offensive, and you can just hear the John Walsh voice over, as you can in the subhead, though that was probably written by a copy editor. There are other points where they should have fixed up some language, but I thought the story was mostly supposed to be about the family's relationship to her memory in the face of uncertainty, so the fact that there are these dueling accounts of how she was living her life is relevant. The article gives somewhat more credence to the theory that she died in the towers than the opposing one, although it does it way down on page 5, and gives space for complaints that the 9/11 determination might have gone differently had she not been a woman. Not great, but not horrible either.
There was a post secret card that said, "Everyone I used to know thinks I died in the World Trade Center." I always wondered whether that was a conor not.
Mostly OT, but I noticed that they hired a psychic. Always wonder what is up with psychics in crime investigations. Is it pure desperation, or is it some sort of lateral thinking thing, that certain people are good at pointing out things others have overlooked, and that's why they keep being called in?
I'd guess more like desperation: it's like the story about the scientist with a horseshoe over his lab door: "What's that for?"
"Good luck."
"Surely you don't believe in that nonsense?"
"Of course not, but I understand that it works whether I believe in it or not."
Even someone who normally thinks psychics are bullshit is going to think "What the hell, I have nothing to lose" when a loved one is missing.
5: It was mostly just a quibble with the transitions & language. Yes, they're duelling stories. Unsurprising. Yes, the police searched for clues based on the victim's normal activities. To be expected. And relevant.
It's just that if you're gonna describe her secret dark side as her undoing, it might help if her activities were secretive or, well, dark. Woo, a high-powered professional with an alcohol problem. What's next, a depressed graduate student?
5: That Post Secrets card has always been the one that leaves an icy chill in my gut (and thus my favorite).
6: I think it's mostly desperation. A couple of weeks ago I watched a couple of shows about police investigations that consulted "psychics" as part of their work (woo, late night cable). In both cases it was such an obvious sham that it almost hurt to watch (but not so bad I couldn't make fun of it). I think people are willing to do anything when the alternative is to accept a loss, or even merely to wait for an answer. In one of the shows I watched, a woman was missing. The "psychic" was asked where she was, and she said, 'She's in the woods, near a stream...' My first response was to say, 'What, you mean they didn't hide the victim on the steps of city hall?'
Well, if she was cheating on her husband, that's a little secretive and dark.
William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" presents the fictional version of this event.
People go missing in NYC all the time. Right now, there are 3,000 active missing persons cases in NY. There are so many things that could have happened to Sneha. Her family's desire to believe that she died a hero is understandable, but there is nothing to suggest she was anywhere near the towers when they went down.
I thought the NY Mag article could have used some editing, but I don't think that they particurally emphasized her "other life." Lots of thirty-somethings have marital problems and drink, but if she disappeared for 24 hours regularly, it's possible she left her husband. Like lots of thirty-somethings.
Also, her family doesn't seem like the type that would happily accept her lesbianism.