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At 9:12am on Tuesday September 11 2001, 24-year-old Wells Crowther left a voicemail for his mother. Speaking calmly, he said, "Mum, this is Wells. I wanted you to know that I'm okay." Nine minutes earlier, a hijacked commercial aircraft had been deliberately flown into the South Tower of New York City's World Trade Center, marking the second major catastrophe that morning.
Seventeen minutes earlier, its neighbouring twin skyscraper, the North Tower, had been similarly hit. The 110-storey South Tower was struck between floors 77 and 85, several floors beneath the office where Wells Crowther worked as an equities trader. After Wells phoned his mother to let her know he was alive, he raced down to the sky lobby on the 78th floor.
The tip of the plane's wing had torn through the space, leaving burning carnage in its wake. A group of dazed and frightened survivors huddled at a bank of damaged elevators, nursing injuries ranging from burns and broken bones to cracked ribs and punctured lungs. Wells immediately took control of the chaotic situation and directed the survivors to an emergency stairwell that led to the ground level.
Carrying one woman on his back, he guided the group down over a dozen floors before urging them to go on without him. He then headed back upstairs. By the time Wells made it back to the 78th floor, the area was overcome by thick, dark smoke. He stripped it down to his t-shirt, pulled a red bandana from his pocket, and secured it over his nose and mouth so that he could breathe. Wells navigated through the debris until he came across more injured survivors.
He retrieved extinguishers to put out the surrounding flames before administering first aid. He then calmly announced, "Everyone who can stand, stand now. If you can help others, do so." Wells led the group to the stairwell. As they rushed out onto the street, Wells remained in the tower to continue helping others. At 9:59am, 56 minutes after the plane's initial impact, the south tower collapsed.
It was followed 29 minutes later by the North Tower. In the aftermath of 9/11, stories from survivors surfaced about a mysterious man who had sacrificed his life to rescue them in the South Tower. They recalled the distinct red bandana he had worn across his face, which earned him the title "The Man in the Red Bandana". When Alison Crowther read an article about the brave young man in the New York Times, she immediately knew who it was.
As a child, Wells Crowther watched his father Jeff get ready for church. Jeff kept a comb handy, which he wrapped in a blue bandana tucked into his right hip pocket. One day, Jeff gave his son his own bandana, in his preferred color of red. It quickly became Wells' trademark. He wore it under his sports uniforms in high school and had it on him throughout his travels after graduation.
As he entered the corporate world, Wells kept his lucky bandana at his desk or in his back right pocket of his pants. When his colleagues asked why, Wells would reply, "With this red bandana, I'm going to change the world." When shown photographs of Wells Crowther, the survivors confirmed he was the man who had saved them. Wells' remains were recovered six months into the extensive cleanup of Ground Zero.
He was found alongside the bodies of firefighters and emergency services personnel who had been operating a command centre in the South Tower's ground lobby. It was believed that Wells had joined the other rescuers as they were preparing to free those trapped above before everything came crashing down. Courage, duty, and care had been a major part of Wells' character throughout his life. While he loved working in the World Trade Centre, he hoped to one day get a job helping others directly.
In the meantime, he was a fully trained volunteer firefighter and used those skills to save as many as 18 lives in the South Tower. Speaking about Wells, one survivor said: "People can live 100 years and not have the compassion, the wherewithal to do what he did." Stories of Wells' actions on 9/11 helped his loved ones heal after the tragedy.
They established the Wells Crowther Charity Trust, an organisation that awards young people who serve their communities. They hoped that Wells' story would inspire others to be more altruistic in their day-to-day lives. His mother, Alison, said: "We took a great piece in knowing that Wells, up until the end, was being very courageous, doing what he wanted to do. He must have felt very fulfilled that day, knowing he was helping others."
In the wake of 9/11, an organisation was founded called the World Trade Centre United Families Group, which aimed to help those affected by the attacks reconstruct their lives. The group was primarily for the families of those who died in the tragedy, but survivors were also encouraged to join and seek support.
The group's online forum offered individuals a place where they could speak to fellow survivors who understood firsthand what they were going through. Inside their online community, survivors were met with empathy, understanding, and camaraderie as they bonded over their collective trauma. They shared their harrowing stories and helped each other overcome immense feelings of grief, guilt, and regret.
On Tuesday May 13 2003, 20 months after 9/11, a post was uploaded on the Survivors forum by a new user. It read: "I am only starting to feel the consequences now despite having tried so hard to put it all behind me. I don't sleep. I see and hear the images and sounds. I'm moody. My stress and anxiety have skyrocketed, and a variety of other things.
"For so long I pretended to be okay, that it is now hard to admit this is actually happening. I think I need to talk to someone about this and tell my story, but I don't see how I will manage that. Going through it once was more than enough." The user signed their post off with their name: Tanya Head. Tanya's post elicited supportive comments from other survivors who welcomed her to the group and encouraged her to share her story.
They explained that their forum was a safe, non-judgmental and cathartic space to discuss all aspects of 9/11. Tanya was praised for the courage it took for her to come forward. The group awaited her opening up to them when she was ready. Tanya sporadically posted on the forum throughout May and June. She was 28 years old and originally from Spain but had immigrated to the US during her youth.
By 2001, she was working for the distinguished investment management company Merrill Lynch in the World Trade Center's South Tower. Like others, she was struggling immensely in the aftermath of the attack. While she maintained a happy disposition in real life, internally she was suffering. She rarely left her apartment, and whenever she closed her eyes she was plagued by images of crashing planes, crumbling buildings, and mangled bodies.
Little things, like the sounds of planes overhead or the flicker of a candle flame triggered frightening memories. Depression and panic attacks prevented Tanya from returning to work and had contributed to her gaining weight. While she was grateful for the support the other survivors showed her, she wasn't ready to share her full story just yet. In June, members of the forum organised a visit to the remains of the Twin Towers.
The area was cordoned off as clean-up efforts were still underway, but they intended to stand outside the barricade to reflect and grieve in each other's company. Tanya had initially accepted the invitation, but on the night before it was due to take place, she phoned one of the organisers to cancel. She said she was still fragile and wasn't ready. For survivors of 9/11, the road to recovery was fraught with difficulties.
Priority was given to those who died and the loved ones they'd left behind. In contrast, survivors were regarded as the lucky ones and were expected to be grateful that they still had their lives. Some felt their suffering was overlooked or misunderstood by the general public, media, and government.
This feeling was amplified when an invite-only event was held at Ground Zero to mark the two-year anniversary of the attacks, and some of the survivors were turned away. In fact, none of the survivors had ever been permitted to access the site, unlike the families of those who had passed. Efforts to arrange a private tour were also denied, adding to ongoing feelings of invisibility for many survivors.
Survivors vented their growing frustrations online, with a lot of their tensions directed towards the World Trade Center United Families group. One morning, Tanya Head logged into the forum and suggested the two groups split. They could create their own online support group, completely independent of the United Families. Tanya wrote, "'I think it's important that we stick together.'
Other users agreed and by that afternoon they had established the World Trade Center Survivors Forum. Within their new online space, users were able to open up like never before. The switch appeared to liberate Tanya, who began posting more on this forum than she had the original. Eventually, she felt comfortable to recount her personal story of survival.
Tanya said she was chairing a meeting in a conference room on the 96th floor of the South Tower when the first plane hit the North Tower. Tanya and her colleagues flocked to the windows where they observed the large smoking crater the aircraft had left in the neighbouring skyscraper. Survivors of the impact emerged from the debris and clung to the crater's edge, waving and crying out for help as explosive flames inched closer behind them.
Facing a terrible, fiery death, the survivors took matters into their own hands. Some attempted to scale down the building to safety, while others jumped or fell to their deaths. It was a confronting and distressing sight that would haunt Tanya forever. Tanya used her mobile phone to call her fiancé David, but the line was busy. A message was then relayed over the South Tower's public address system urging occupants to stay put.
The collision at the North Tower was believed to be an isolated incident and no one else was thought to be in any danger. Despite this reassuring message, Tanya decided to leave. She made her way to the bank of elevators in the sky lobby on the 78th floor, where an anxious crowd had already formed. Panic set in and the crowd began pushing closer to the elevator doors. Tanya recalled hearing one man yell,
"Ladies, this is not the Titanic. It's not women and children first." Then, a hysterical voice cried out, "There's another plane coming! There's another plane coming!" The deafening roar of the approaching jet grew as it sped towards the south tower. Within seconds, the plane made contact and erupted into a powerful fireball. Its wing shattered through the walls and collapsed the ceiling.
Tanya felt a tremendous increase in pressure. All the air in her lungs was sucked out and for a moment, it seemed as though she was flying through the air. Then everything went black. After recounting this experience to the World Trade Center Survivors Forum, Tanya stopped. "I find it very hard to talk about what happened afterward," she admitted. The community rallied around Tanya until she felt comfortable to open up a little more.
She recalled that after being knocked unconscious by the impact of the South Tower collision, she woke up under a broken slab of marble that had once been part of a wall. Several fires illuminated the devastation around her. Lying alongside Tanya was a colleague who had been decapitated. Other mangled and charred bodies were scattered about while the weary voices of survivors cried out in the darkness.
Smoke burned Tanya's lungs, thick dust almost blinded her, and pain radiated through her body. She agonized over the realization that this moment was going to be her last. Just as Tanya accepted her fate, someone began hitting her on the back. Each thud brought her immense pain. She begged the person to stop, only to realize that her clothes were on fire and a man was using a jacket to pad out the flames.
A red bandana covered the lower half of his face, but Tanya could see his brown eyes were kind. "Just stay awake," he told her. The man said he was going to show Tanya the way out. Reassured by his calm presence, Tanya mustered the strength to pull herself out from under the rubble. That's when she noticed that her right arm was severely burnt and hanging from her body by a thread of sinew. She tucked it into her jacket to keep it together.
The man in the red bandana supported Tanya as they climbed and crawled through the wreckage. Each movement brought Tanya agonizing pain and she doubted she could go on. Her rescuer encouraged her by saying, "Just keep moving." Along the way, the pair came across a badly burnt man gasping for air. Tanya knelt beside him and he handed her something small and hot.
It was a gold wedding ring inscribed with the woman's name and the word "Forever". "Please give this to my wife," he begged. "I'll find her and I'll give it to her," Tanya replied. Just as she placed the ring into her pocket, the man took his final breath. Tanya proceeded onwards with the man in the red bandana. They eventually reached the door to an emergency stairwell where the man placed his hand on Tanya's shoulder and said,
"Go, you can do this." Tanya's mind raced with thoughts of her life, her family, her fiancé, and their upcoming wedding. Compelled to power on, she began her descent. The man helped her down each painful step until the smoke cleared and the rest of the way became clear. He removed his bandana, looked at Tanya resolutely and reassured her that she would be safe.
"Just keep going down. I have to go back up and help other people," he said, before heading back towards the wrecked sky lobby. Tanya hobbled down until the pain, exhaustion, and blood loss became too much and she passed out. She was soon stirred awake by a firefighter who told her, "We're leaving here together." He carried Tanya down the remaining 20 floors and out onto the street.
They had barely made it out when the ground began to shake. The thunderous sound of crushing concrete and metal filled the air. People all around began running away in panic. Tanya was thrust under a fire truck just as the south tower collapsed behind her. Her next memory was waking in hospital five days later. Her arm had been reattached, but she would only ever have partial use of it, and the burn scars would remain.
Tanya's distraught parents were by her side. Where's Dave? she asked. Tanya's fiancé David worked for a consulting firm on the 100th floor of the North Tower. She would come to learn that he didn't make it. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors.
Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. Tanya Head's survival was nothing short of incredible. In the North Tower, the plane had hit between floors 93 and 98 in a manner that decimated all forms of escape. At the crash site and above, over 1300 people died. There were no survivors.
It might have been a similar outcome in the South Tower had it not been for two special circumstances. Firstly, the emergency stairwell was far enough from the impact zone to remain usable. Secondly, the man in the red bandana, Wells Crowther. Survivor Ling Young described Wells as their guardian angel, saying: "Without him, we would be sitting there, waiting until the building came down.
Tanya Head was one of the lucky few saved by Wells that day, but the loss of her fiancé in the North Tower made her experience uniquely devastating. She was the only person to be both a tower survivor of the 9/11 attack and a bereaved family member of a life it claimed. Tanya's extraordinary story soon caught the attention of Jerry Bogaz, a planning director for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council.
Jerry had fled from the North Tower before it collapsed, but several members of his team had stayed behind and died. In the devastating aftermath, Jerry spearheaded several in-person survivors' meetings throughout the city as a means of support. It was through these that he learned about Tanya Head and was in awe of her story. He reached out to Tanya online and the two bonded over their shared ordeal.
Like Jerry, Tanya was using her struggles as motivation to help others. She said it gave her the will to live. Jerry was struck by Tanya's optimism and resilience despite all she had lost. He invited her to attend one of his meetings set for Saturday January 24 2004, and she willingly accepted.
While no one in any of the survivor circles had met Tanya in real life yet, everyone knew her story and she'd become somewhat of a celebrity among them. But Tanya didn't relish the attention. When she attended Jerry Bogaz's meeting, the other guests found her to be unassuming and shy. While she was responsive and grateful for their support, she was happy to sit quietly as the meeting took place around her.
Jerry Bogaz spoke of his vision to create a non-profit organisation specifically for 9/11 survivors that would help empower individuals to find renewed purpose. The organisation intended to implement a day of recognition titled "Survivors Day" and aimed to finally get survivors access to Ground Zero. From there, they hoped to provide input on a memorial for the site. The group settled on a name.
The World Trade Center Survivors Network. Tanya suggested that the network join forces with her online group, the Survivors Forum. Not only would they have more political clout with greater numbers, they could also share the arduous task of identifying and reaching out to the thousands of people who had survived 9/11 to offer their support. By the end of the meeting, Tanya had come out of her shell and was fiercely determined.
That night, she sat at her computer contacting an array of people who could help the network and its members. Six weeks later, Tanya sent an email to the Survivors Network announcing good news. She had contacted the World Trade Center site supervisor and after years of inexplicable rejection, she had successfully negotiated a private visit to Ground Zero. The group was elated.
The tour took place on Friday May 14 2004, with 20 survivors opting to take part. Unlike those around her, this was not Tanya's first visit to Ground Zero. Because her fiancé had died in the attacks, she had gone on one of the first private tours held for family members of the deceased. This new opportunity allowed Tanya to focus on comforting her companions, who were eternally thankful for what she had done.
After being granted access to the 16-acre site, the survivors were permitted to descend a ramp to the bottom of the pits where each tower had once stood. It was a confronting and somber experience that fuelled varied emotions. Some felt a sense of peace and closure, while others grappled with oppressive sadness. Tanya spoke of feeling David's presence all around her.
In stories about her fiancé, Tanya detailed how they had fortuitously met outside the World Trade Center in February 1999. The pair had finished work in their respective towers when they headed out onto the street. Heavy rain was pelting across the city, so Tanya beelined for a cab idling nearby. Just as she went to hop in, a man slipped into the back seat from the opposite side.
He was handsome with a radiant smile and striking blue-green eyes. He offered her the cab on the condition that she take his business card and call him. His name was David and at 24 years old, he was two years younger than Tanya and worked for a consulting firm in the North Tower. Offended by his bold arrogance, Tanya had no intention of calling him.
Two weeks later, Tanya was in the World Trade Center's concourse when David tapped her on the shoulder and remarked, "I never should have let you have that cab, because you never called." Flustered, Tanya agreed to a quick coffee date. The pair spent the next three hours chatting. David spoke of his love for the outdoors, his selfless charity work, and his plans for the future.
Tanya told him about her privileged upbringing in Barcelona that led to her business tycoon father uprooting her family to the US. Despite her inherited entitlements and wealth, Tanya grew to be a humble and compassionate person with an enthusiasm for social activism. At age 17, she was recruited by the number one international management school in the world.
She was accepted early into Harvard University for an undergraduate degree before earning a graduate business degree from Stanford University. This helped her secure a job with Merrill Lynch in the South Tower. When Tanya had to pull herself away for a work meeting, David insisted, "I have to see you again." A whirlwind fairy tale romance followed. According to Tanya, David was the type of guy who everybody loved.
Nicknamed "Big Dave", he was a stickler for time, could recite all the lines from the film Braveheart, and had a habit of misplacing things. But what Tanya loved most about David was his sensitive side. He always put others first, as evident in his volunteer work at a soup kitchen. He was also a hopeless romantic, the type to serenade Tanya in public and recite poetry to her. He loved children and wanted several of his own.
To Tanya, he was almost too good to be true. Given that money wasn't a problem for either of them, the couple were able to travel overseas and buy a beach house in the Hamptons. They eventually settled into a luxurious New York apartment with a golden retriever they named Elvis. Their love story culminated in a dinner at the top of the North Tower where David proposed.
They planned a high society wedding with 500 guests for early October 2001, but the preparations weren't smooth sailing. Tanya found herself exasperated by the influence David's mother had on every decision, which resulted in the couple arguing almost every day. Just as Tanya was starting to have doubts, she returned home to their apartment to find a trail of rose petals leading to the dining room.
There, David was waiting in a coconut bra and grass skirt, dancing the hula. A spread of Hawaiian dishes adorned the table, all prepped by David himself. He revealed that he had purchased them two tickets to Hawaii, leaving the next day. The pair spent the next few days in a grand resort in Maui typically reserved for celebrities.
While there, David surprised Tanya with an elaborate and picturesque wedding ceremony he had organised entirely by himself, right down to her dress. It was a magical experience, but the pair still intended to go through with their official wedding in New York. On Tuesday September 11 2001, Tanya arrived at work in a tense mood.
She and David had argued that morning over another petty grievance, something she would come to regret as their final encounter. Yet, it was thoughts of him and their upcoming wedding that had given her the courage to escape from the South Tower. Writing about it on the Survivors Forum, she recalled: "I wanted to wear that white dress and swear my love for him in front of friends and family. I wanted to have his children.
I believe today that he stopped to give me the strength to get out of there, on his way to heaven." Years later, as Tanya stood in the pits where the Twin Towers once stood, she reminisced on these moments. Among the flowers and cards other survivors had placed, she left a letter to David that detailed how much she loved and missed him.
At the end of the survivors' visit to Ground Zero, the group encircled Tanya and showered her with gratitude. Thanks to her, they had taken a much-needed step forward on their healing journey. Tanya smiled kindly, but later confided in a frant that the visit had been very hard for her. Seeing the pain of her fellow survivors was heart-wrenching, and she was now grieving for David even more.
She intended to visit David's childhood town where a memorial garden was constructed in his honour. Although Tanya explained that it would be hard to see his name etched in stone and she knew she'd cry for days afterwards, she was just glad he was being recognised. She appreciated David's family, whom she stayed close with and visited often. Tanya vented to her friend about another issue she was dealing with.
Anyone who applied to join the Survivors Forum was automatically accepted, as the group trusted in people's good faith. Yet, one member began making some suspicious posts that led the group to deduce he wasn't a 9/11 survivor at all, but had made up his story for attention. Tanya expressed discomfort that the fraudster had been reading their personal posts.
He had since been banned and policies were enacted that led Tanya to believe it wouldn't happen again. She wrote to her friend: "I mean, who would want to fake being a World Trade Center survivor? Right?" Tanya was happy to sacrifice her time to continue advocating for the World Trade Center Survivors Network. She was a regular at the in-person meetings, where she drew in others with her unbreakable spirit.
They applauded as she detailed all the things she was doing on their behalf. In addition to managing the online forum, she organized Survivors speakers events, held writing workshops, met with publishers who could assist in producing books on their stories, and plotted a documentary with a filmmaker. She used her own money to print t-shirts branded with the Survivors Network logo, hosted lighthearted outings throughout the city, and held fundraisers.
She even found a specialist trauma expert to lead therapy sessions. Tanya did all of this with infectious joy that made survivors forget their pain whenever they were in her presence. They couldn't help but be impressed with how well she was coping compared to them. With her radiant warmth and willingness to lead, Tanya quickly became the face of the 9/11 survivors.
While most survivors struggled to describe or remember what they had witnessed that day, Tanya could repeat her story in mesmerising detail. Survivors' stories typically featured one or two key elements: they either saw the plane's impact, were inside one of the towers at the time, had witnessed the falling bodies, or had run from the crashing buildings. Tanya had experienced it all.
Her severely scarred, withered right arm was a testament to the horrors she endured. Not only was hers a truly remarkable, unique account, it also featured the lauded 9/11 hero, Wells Crowther. Yet, Tanya never tried to one-up the other survivors or act like she had it worse. To her, all their stories were equally valid.
She didn't hog the spotlight, try to profit off of her story, or bask in media attention. In fact, she seemed somewhat intimidated by it. When she was approached for interviews, she was often reluctant to participate. She was just happy and comfortable to remain an honoured figure within the close-knit survivor circles. And for all her work, she never asked for anything in return.
All she wanted was a sense of appreciation and to see others follow in her lead. Yet, even Tanya had her bad days where she was uncharacteristically sullen. Sometimes she disappeared for days at a time while ignoring calls and messages. She confided in a friend that she wasn't rebounding nearly as successfully as she let on.
Antidepressants prescribed by her therapist did little to curb recurring nightmares of 9/11. She barely slept and some days she couldn't muster the energy to leave her apartment. Whenever she was inside a building she feared a plane would hit. Air travel was intimidating as she imagined hijackers were on board. She was also worried that she would never find a man she loved as much as David.
Tanya told her friend she kept these feelings to herself because she didn't want to burden anyone, confiding: "It seems no one cares about how much I suffered, what I saw." She lamented that she should have died, explaining: "Now I can't find meaning in anything I do. All of this makes me mad and it makes me wonder what it is that I'm doing here. Why is it that I continue to be haunted by the images of that day?"
I'm so tired of trying to make sense of any of this, of trying to cope with my situation." Over the coming months, Tanya's appearances became sporadic, both online and in real life. When the third anniversary of 9/11 arrived, Tanya forewent expectations to attend Ground Zero, telling other members of the Survivors Network that she would be spending time with David's parents instead.
They were private people who had chosen not to appear at any 9/11-related public events. It was in respect to their privacy that Tanya hadn't yet revealed David's last name to anyone. In January 2005, Tanya volunteered to take a humanitarian trip to Southeast Asia to help those who had recently been impacted by the devastating Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which claimed over 200,000 lives.
Tanya kept the Survivors Forum updated on her experience by sending nearly 30-page long writings that covered everything from the meals she ate to the work she did in villages delivering supplies and rebuilding infrastructure. Those 10 days were eye-opening for Tanya. She wrote of the personal growth she went through seeing other survivors coming to terms with the death and destruction around them. It also answered the question that she had been agonising over
Why did she survive? Now she understood. It wasn't to pick up the pieces and try and return to her old life. That could never happen. It was to help others. In the month after Tanya returned to the States, she appeared at a meetup for the Survivors Network. It had been a while since the group had seen her and she was greeted with a standing ovation and a round of applause.
Her overseas humanitarian work had boosted Tanya's enthusiasm and she seemed to be back to her normal, energetic self. She threw herself back into her advocacy work for the network, becoming its co-chair alongside its founder, Jerry Bogaz. She worked into the night making calls and sending emails, reaching out to bureaucrats and other influential New Yorkers until they got the recognition they sought.
Plans and policies were starting to be implemented with 9/11 survivors in mind. Tanya also kept her promise by working to identify the man who entrusted his wedding ring to her before the collapse of the South Tower. After months of devoted research, Tanya finally tracked down his widow. Tanya gave her the ring in private, with no fuss or media attention.
While she was happy to talk broadly about the poignant experience, out of respect for the woman's privacy, Tanya refused to divulge her or her husband's name. For all of Tanya's hard work, one of her biggest tasks was yet to come. After the remains of the Twin Towers were cleared, a set of 37 steps that had once connected the skyscraper's plaza to the street below remained.
During the attacks, hundreds of survivors had used these stairs as their path to freedom. The stairs had managed to withstand both the collapse of the buildings and the subsequent demolition work. Referred to as "Survivor's Staircase", they were set to be removed as part of the redevelopment. At the behest of the survivors, Tanya successfully campaigned for the steps to remain untouched and become a feature of the memorial.
When an offer was put forward seeking volunteers to lead walking tours of Ground Zero, Tanya was the first to respond. With her positive reputation, she was the ideal candidate and was invited to try out. She carried out several test tours, during which she guided tourists through the 9/11 site while detailing the history of the Twin Towers, the subsequent attacks, and her escape.
On her own volition, Tanya told her followers about David and showed them her scarred arm. Her story left listeners in tears. Tanya's story encapsulated both the tragedy and triumph of New York on 9/11. She was therefore asked to lead a walking tour for three of New York's most powerful politicians: Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Although Tanya was delighted by the recognition, she was hesitant to accept. She told a friend there was so much at stake. She'd only ever told her story to other survivors, tourists, or at small-scale private functions. This would be a major press event with dignitaries, camera crews, and journalists, which would thrust Tanya into the international spotlight. She wasn't sure she was ready and feared she'd mess everything up.
Tanya's friend reassured her, saying, They wouldn't have picked you if they didn't believe in you. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The walking tour was scheduled to take place on Friday September 9 2005.
That morning, Tanya Head was a nervous wreck. Jittery and teary-eyed, she considered pulling the plug entirely. Her supporters had never seen her like this. They assumed she was grappling with painful memories and felt intimidated by her esteemed guests. That wasn't the case. Tanya explained she was overwrought by the large media presence and didn't want to answer any of their questions.
Her fellow survivors gave her comfort and encouragement, reminding her how important the publicity was to the network's vision. This would mark the first time a 9/11 survivor was featured front and center at a major event. By the time the tour was scheduled to begin, Tanya managed to calm her nerves. At the preceding press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated:
It's heartening to know that the September 11 story will be told with accuracy, with honesty, and with a great heart." With a newfound sense of confidence, Tanya then led the way while recounting her miraculous story of survival. Those in attendance were captivated, with Governor George Pataki remarking that they were very grateful and proud of Tanya.
After the tour, the press bombarded Tanya with questions and interview requests, but her entourage kept them at bay, saying Tanya was too exhausted to engage at that time. Even without Tanya's direct participation, her story made headlines, and it soon came to the attention of Wells Crowther's parents, Jeff and Allison. The couple reached out to Tanya wanting to meet her in person, but Tanya was reluctant.
She claimed that family members of 9/11 victims asked too many questions and pried for specific details, which forced her to dredge up painful memories. When she couldn't give them the answers they sought, they often turned hostile towards her. One encounter had triggered her to have a panic attack. But by early 2006, Tanya had a change of heart. She was willing to reconsider the Crowthers' request on one condition.
Their meeting was to be private and confidential, with no media or anyone else present. The Krauthers happily agreed. They were just delighted to hear from another person who owed their life to their son. On the day of the meeting, Tanya was once again overwhelmed with anxiety. She decided that she wasn't going to say anything to the Krauthers. They would have to do all the talking and respect her choice to remain silent.
A friend urged Tanya to reconsider, reminding her that it was the Crowthers' son who had saved her life. Meeting each other was a gift for all those involved. Tanya went ahead with the meeting and the Crowthers immediately embraced her. While they sensed Tanya's apprehension, they spoke to her as if they were long-time friends.
Tanya sat quietly as the Crowthers recounted stories of Wells, from his interests and hobbies to the close relationship he had with his two sisters. Tanya told the couple that Wells sounded a lot like the man she married. With that, her defenses came down and she told them her story. She spoke of how Wells had found her and led her to the stairwell, of the words they shared, and his kind eyes. Jeff and Allison were moved to tears.
Before they went their separate ways, they gave Tanya a gift: a red bandana. The Crowthers asked Tanya to speak at a memorial event for their son later that year. She told other survivors that she didn't want to, but felt like she couldn't refuse. The group was surprised by her cool indifference toward the Crowther family. Not only was it unlike Tanya to be dispassionate and impolite, she'd had no qualms telling her story in the past.
Ever since the Ground Zero walking tour with the politicians, Tanya's fellow survivors had noticed a shift in her attitude. Her grace and optimism were often overshadowed by frustration, anxiety, and indignation. She was prone to snapping at members of the survivors' network and fostering animosity within the community.
While she'd typically gone out of her way to help other survivors, she was now dismissive of them, as though her story was the only one that mattered. She began exuding arrogance and network members were getting fed up, with some even leaving the group as a result.
Tanya went from fronting intimate survivors meetings to being invited to a wide range of heavily publicised 9/11 related events, from charity walks to testifying at a congressional hearing. Whenever she expressed a desire to step back from the spotlight, she realised the days of anonymity were gone. The Ground Zero tours were taking place six times a day, seven days a week, and her story was reaching people from all around the world.
Everyone knew Tanya Head. On the day of Wells Crowther's memorial event, Tanya was in such a state of panic that one of her friends had to escort her to the lectern and give the speech on her behalf. Speaking of the struggle she'd had preparing for the event, Tanya's speech said, "'What exactly do you say to the family of the man who saved your life and gave his in the process?'
In her speech, Tanya revealed that she told Wells' story to her family every Christmas to honour and preserve his memory. She also kept a picture of him in every room of her home, so he was always with her. Tanya's speech ended,
"In many ways, I feel Wells and I keep each other alive. Wells, you are my hero. I live my life to make you proud." Tanya Head's story boosted the Survivors Network out of obscurity and by 2007 it was a powerful and respected advocacy group with thousands of members. Tanya was given the role of president, a position created just for her.
With all the good she'd done, she was seen as the perfect person to feature in a New York Times article for the upcoming sixth anniversary of 9/11. Tanya agreed to participate, but when it came time to sit down with the journalist, she cancelled and began ignoring their calls. Tanya told other members of the group that she didn't want to make the network all about her, but to them, it was clear that something else was going on.
Ever since the article request, Tanya had been visibly irritated. She began skipping events and acting increasingly hostile and cruel to those around her. Some feared she was heading towards a mental breakdown. Tanya blamed the stress of the New York Times article for her recent behavior and said she no longer wanted to go ahead with it.
But the journalist, David Dunlap, started contacting other survivors and asking some strange questions that had nothing to do with Tanya's survival story. Had they ever been to her apartment? Or seen pictures of her fiancé? Tanya accused David Dunlap of stalking and harassing her as revenge for rejecting his interview offers. He apologised for upsetting her, saying he was just interested to know why she was so reluctant to speak with him.
Tanya's supporters asked David to email through his questions instead so that Tanya could answer them in her own time. He immediately sent through two pages worth. His questions covered everything from where Tanya had gone to school to whether she was still employed by Merrill Lynch.
He also wanted to clarify whether Tanya had been engaged or married at the time of the 9/11 attacks, as she'd referred to her deceased partner as both her fiancé and husband. There were also questions about what hospital Tanya had been treated in after 9/11 and if a doctor or nurse there could attest to her remarkable recovery. The questions sent Tanya into a fit of rage to the dismay of other members of the network.
If she didn't want to answer the questions herself, they suggested she pass them on to her in-laws or her employer, or give the journalist the names of the people from her story who could corroborate her version of events. Tanya refused. As the pressure to participate in the article mounted, she confessed to the real reason she was avoiding the New York Times. She wasn't a US citizen. This only confused survivors more.
Given her prominence and respectability in the country, they were certain no one would care. The day before the article was scheduled to drop, Tanya sent an email to the Survivors Network that read: "As you know, the New York Times is going to publish an article about me. I ask all of you to please not listen to what is in the article, but reflect upon what you know of me.
On Thursday September 27 2007, the article appeared on the front page of the New York Times with the title: "In a 9/11 survival tale, the pieces just don't fit." It began: "Tanya Head's story, as shared over the years with reporters, students, friends, and hundreds of visitors to Ground Zero, was a remarkable account of both life and death.
But no part of her story, it turns out, has been verified. Journalist David Dunlap had done his due diligence when it came to every claim Tanya had made over the past few years, and he'd discovered that nothing added up. Harvard and Stanford universities had no records of a student called Tanya Head, nor had Merrill Lynch ever employed someone by that name.
Tanya didn't have an office in the World Trade Center and there was also no proof that she'd gone to Southeast Asia in 2005 to perform humanitarian work. The truth about Tanya's fiancé, David, was a little more complex to unravel. There was indeed a man named David who had died in the North Tower.
Everything about him matched with Tanya's description of her deceased partner, from his age, to his job, to the fact that he was a likeable outdoorsman who loved to travel, write poetry, and volunteered at a soup kitchen. But when contacted prior to the release of the New York Times article, David's family, friends, and colleagues all said they'd never heard of Tanya Head.
David hadn't been engaged, had never travelled to Hawaii, and he lived with roommates, not a girlfriend. According to the New York Times article, quote, "...few people, it seems, who embraced the gripping immediacy and pain of Tanya's account ever asked the name of the man whose ring she had returned, or that of the hospital where she was treated, or the identities of the people she met with in the South Tower on the morning of 9-11."
Journalist David Dunlap explained that he couldn't find a single person who recalled encountering Tanya Head at the World Trade Center on 9/11. While Tanya had told dramatic stories about the family members of victims, the only ones she'd ever formally met were Jeff and Alison Crowther. The Crowthers told David Dunlap that Tanya had promised to send them a piece of the scorched jacket she had worn on 9/11 as it was one of the last things their son had touched.
She failed to deliver on that promise. She had also agreed to donate the jacket to a tribute center that displayed 9/11 artifacts, but never followed through. Like the rest of America, the Crowthers were left stunned by Tanya's betrayal and the way in which she'd exploited Wells' memory to fuel her deception. Jeff Crowther told the New York Times: "She seemed so heartfelt and genuine.
His wife Alison later told Channel 4: "We took her on just complete trust and faith. We had no reason not to believe everything she was saying to us." It turned out that Tanya's real name was Alicia Estevejerd. Born in Spain to a prominent and affluent family, she was the youngest of five children. As the only girl, Alicia was considered to be her parents' jewel and they gave her everything she wanted.
Her family split their time between three lavish homes, mingling with politicians and European royalty on yachts and at exclusive clubs. Alicia liked to boast about her family's wealth and social position, her expensive clothes, and her top-tier education. That was until 1992, when her father and brother were embroiled in a highly publicised multi-million dollar financial scandal.
Both wound up in jail for embezzlement, bringing shame to their family's name. Alicia distanced herself from the men in her family and desperately tried to regain her pride and honour. She focused on her career, hoping to establish herself as an influential and respected businesswoman. Her fierce ambition made her notably ruthless.
Alicia was known to pit co-workers against each other so that she could get ahead, and she surrounded herself with people who didn't overshadow her. She was also known for being generous in a way that made others feel as though she was buying their friendship. Throughout her childhood, Alicia was known to lie to get attention and boost her self-esteem. As she got older, that behaviour escalated.
She typically made up stories whenever she felt frustrated or bored with her life. They were mostly just harmless fibs centered around fictitious boyfriends. The lengths of her deception took a dramatic turn in September 2001.
While Alicia claimed to have been working in the World Trade Center when the September 11 attacks took place, the reality was that she had been in Barcelona, where she was enrolled in a master's program at a university specializing in economics. There was no record of her taking a leave of absence around that time, nor did any of her classmates recall her sporting any injuries.
The damage to Alicia's right arm was the result of a previous accident, though exactly what caused it remained up for debate. To some, Alicia said that she'd been driving in a Ferrari with her fiancé, travelling at 200km an hour when the vehicle crashed. Alicia's right arm was severed and needed to be reattached, while her fiancé died as a result. She told others the injury was caused by a horse riding accident at a polo country club.
As one Spanish journalist later recounted to Channel 4: "Alicia Estevejad was a very good actress, because with all these lies I never found anyone telling me 'I didn't believe her'." Alicia graduated in May 2002, telling her classmates that Barcelona wasn't big enough for her dreams. It was no secret that Alicia had been obsessed with America from a young age.
She learned American English, traveled to the States often, and had an American flag on her bedroom wall. It therefore came as no surprise to those who knew her when she departed for New York City, where she started going by the name Tanya. In hindsight, it was clear that Tanya's fictitious 9/11 survival story was woven from genuine reports, as everything she'd detailed about the day was factually correct.
It appeared that she'd undertaken extensive research before first presenting herself to the online survivor community in May 2003. With the truth about Tanya Head coming to light, criticism was directed at the media for not fact-checking Tanya's claims before printing them. But, as the Morning Call newspaper pointed out,
Tanya had managed to rope in a traumatized group of survivors, a traumatized city, and a traumatized nation because she lied about something that, in most people's imagination, nobody would dare lie about. Still, Tanya had drawn a degree of suspicion over the years. Some found it odd that Tanya had never shown them any photos of her and her fiancé David together,
When they visited Tanya's apartment, the golden retriever named Elvis that she and David had apparently brought together was always out on walks. Tanya had promised to take some of her survivor friends to the Hampton Beach house where David's belongings were allegedly stored, but she kept cancelling at the last minute. One had been driven to search David's name online but found no mention of him being engaged or married at all.
While some had felt uneasy about Tanya's claims, they'd been unsure of how to address it. Tanya had a tendency to get emotional whenever someone asked about her ordeal and they didn't want to pry and make things worse. Others were acutely aware of Tanya's influence and power among the survivors' network and they didn't want to risk being kicked out of the community they relied on for support.
The fear of Tanya was justified. A 9/11 survivor named Lisa once attended a charity event with Tanya, who wore a t-shirt that bore a photo of her fiancé David. Lisa immediately recognized him as one of her colleagues. She was surprised to learn that David had been engaged - he'd never once mentioned it at work.
Lisa tried to speak to Tanya about their mutual connection, but Tanya became dismissive, saying it was too painful to talk about. After that, Tanya turned the Survivors Network against Lisa and she was no longer welcome in the group. A similar thing happened to the Survivors Network founder Jerry Bogaz.
After years of close friendship, Tanya abruptly started campaigning against Jerry, saying he no longer had the tenacity or leadership skills to front the group. Jerry couldn't believe what was happening. The kind and selfless Tanya he once knew had become mean-spirited and calculating. She convinced the Survivors Network to remove Jerry, and was then promoted to president. Jerry was devastated.
It wasn't until Tanya was exposed as a fraud that he realized why she must have suddenly turned on him. Driven by a mix of curiosity and suspicion, Jerry had asked Tanya for her fiancé's last name. He then checked it against the 9/11 victim list and confirmed it was there. Satisfied with these findings, Jerry moved on. But it was shortly after this that Tanya pushed to have him removed from the network.
Before the release of the New York Times article, journalist David Dunlap had only been able to get one quote from Tanya. On a phone call two days before the article went to print, Tanya stated: "I have done nothing illegal. She wasn't wrong." Under American law, for Tanya to be charged with fraud, she would have had to deceptively obtain property from another person for her own benefit.
During her time with the Survivors Network, investigations revealed that Tanya didn't earn or take anything. All her work was unpaid and she had only ever donated her own money to the cause, and large amounts of it. Authorities were powerless. While Tanya's actions were clearly immoral, they weren't illegal.
For years, filmmaker Angelo Guglielmo had been working directly with Tanya Head to create a documentary about the survivors of 9/11. In the aftermath of the New York Times article, Angelo headed to Tanya's apartment seeking an explanation. He found her looking disheveled and overcome with rage and self-pity. She blamed her situation on the media, asserting they were out to get her.
She was also bitter that the Survivors Network had turned on her after everything she'd done for them. Her membership had been revoked and the role of president had been assigned to another member. No one in the group had reached out to Tanya and several had publicly expressed their indignation. Tanya showed no remorse, telling Angelo: "How could they say all these terrible things about me? What kind of friends are these?
Realising Tanya wasn't going to admit to anything, Angelo left. Unsure what to do with his documentary in light of the recent revelations, he discussed the matter with the Survivors Network. They agreed that Angelo should finish the project while also highlighting everything Tanya did, both good and bad. When Tanya found out about it, she was furious. She phoned Angelo, warning:
"One day the truth will come out and you'll all feel terrible and apologize to me." After the release of the New York Times article, Tanya attempted to reach out to a few friends via email, but only one was willing to talk. They were surprised to find that she was unapologetic and depicted herself as the victim. After this, Tanya more or less vanished,
She maintained sporadic contact with a few people, saying she was moving to a new apartment, had a new job, and was working with a therapist. When members of the Survivors Network received a mysterious email from a Spanish account alleging that Tanya Head had taken her own life, they were skeptical. They believed Tanya had sent the email herself.
Three years later, on Thursday December 23 2010, Angelo Guglielmo was in New York when he spotted Tanya out of the corner of his eye. He rushed over, put his hand on her shoulder and said her name. Startled, Tanya jumped back and yelled, "Get away from me! Don't speak to me!" She gave Angelo the middle finger and took off. Angelo was so shocked that he walked away.
He later regretted that he didn't press Tanya for answers. Nine months later, on Wednesday September 14 2011, Angelo was walking down the street when Tanya obliviously passed by him again. Shaking with nerves, Angelo retrieved his camera from his backpack and began following her. Tanya was with her mother, who'd previously insisted she didn't know a thing about her daughter's deception.
The pair headed to the East River where they stopped to admire the sunset. Tanya looked happy and carefree. Angelo continued to follow Tanya as she entered a boutique hotel. Angelo waited outside, mulling over what he should do next. Two hours later, Tanya reappeared alone and dressed for a party. As she walked towards a bus stop, Angelo became overwhelmed with anger. He headed towards her with his camera rolling.
As soon as Tanya recognised Angelo, she started shaking her head and her body stiffened. "Don't come near me, Angelo," she ordered. "Get away from me." Angelo didn't stop filming. Tanya reached out for the camera, at which point Angelo exploded, yelling, "How dare you! Don't you have any feelings for the people you've hurt? Tanya, don't you have any feelings at all?"
Tanya pulled out her mobile phone and said she was calling the police. Angelo turned off his camera and walked away. Reflecting on the experience, he later said: "I took no pleasure in that encounter. That night I replayed the video and cringed. I felt sad and sorry. Did that mean I forgave her? Who the hell knows? I didn't even know who she was.
Angelo's documentary on the Survivors Network and Tanya Head was released in 2012 with the name "The Woman Who Wasn't There". He also co-wrote a book with the same title. Since her fall from grace, Tanya Head has remained out of the public eye. Aside from fleeting sightings in New York, it is believed she returned to Barcelona to live with her mother.
In recent times, her name and image was used for an account on the professional networking platform LinkedIn. The profile matches Tanya's biography and claims she is working and living in New York. Efforts to verify this information have come up dry. Given that Tanya never claimed any accountability for her fake 9/11 survival story, the question still remains: Why did she do it?
Some believe Tanya showed signs of pseudologia fantastica, a rare syndrome where individuals represent certain fantasies as real occurrences. It manifests in several ways that include Chronic lying with no clear objective benefit Dramatic, detailed, complicated and colourful storytelling geared to achieve acceptance, admiration and sympathy
The stories themselves feature the teller as a hero or victim. During her time with the Survivors Network, Tanya had started writing about her experience as though she intended to release a book. One passage read: "It's still all so raw. It hurts as much now as then, and I still cannot understand why, why, why. I talked to Dave and told him I was sorry, but he didn't answer back.
Our photos together are ghosts of a life I once had and desperately want back. My other half is missing, ripped away from us by human missiles." One reporter who read Tanya's writing said: "It's such bullshit. I mean now I look at it and now go, 'Wow, it's amazing.' She constructed a very large narrative, a big, big story."
Documentary filmmaker Angelo Guglielmo told NPR, "...it was clear to me right away that Tanya did it for the attention, for some crazy need to be a star. That's what she wanted to be, and she became that."
One US psychologist stated that Tanya had "wanted what most liars want, which is to change the way other people look at them, to be loved and respected and valued and cared about." Speaking to Channel 4 about his own theory, Jeff Crowther said: "It would appear to me that she is an individual with a low self-esteem, very low self-esteem.
She felt she needed to do something to create a different Tanya. While Tanya Head had escaped punishment, her actions had a lasting impact on the genuine survivors of 9/11. Before Tanya was exposed as a fraud, her ability to triumph in the face of adversity caused others to harbour guilt and shame about their struggles.
Many felt their own experience was nothing compared to what Tanya had gone through, and they therefore hesitated to share their stories. Many also felt they weren't doing enough to help the Survivors Network when Tanya was doing so much despite all she'd suffered through. In reality, the reason she was able to put so much time and energy into the network, because she wasn't dealing with any real trauma like the rest of the members were.
Once the truth came out, members of the network felt embarrassed for being duped. Many of them idolised Tanya, but with her deception exposed, they felt like they'd lost another close friend to 9/11. One member said: "I'm very torn. She did a lot of good for our network. It's hard to discredit it at all. But she didn't have to lie. She could have done those things without needing to lie.
The group's founder, Jerry Bogaz, told Channel 4 that there was a violence to Tanya's actions. "It's taking advantage of people," he said. "And if you take advantage of particularly vulnerable people, that's even worse." During her time in the network, Tanya had received counselling from a therapist who was fully convinced of her story. Reflecting back, the therapist said: "It's a case study.
It's not just a window into her personality and what she was capable of, but of what was going on with the whole 9/11 community and what they were feeling. The survivors needed and wanted a Tanya so much that they helped create her. With Tanya gone, members of the survivors' network were free to speak openly without feeling inadequate. However, the damage was already done.
Tanya's actions had fueled suspicions in the group and members began accusing one another of being frauds and lying. The group ultimately disbanded. When the truth was exposed, something Tanya Head had once said took on new meaning. Speaking of 9/11, Tanya remarked: "Sometimes I have to go back and think, was it real? Was it a dream? Was my life really like that? Or
Was it just all make-believe?