Alicia Esteve Head exposed for faking 9/11 survivor identity

Alicia Esteve Head, known as Tania Head, spent nearly six years as a prominent figure in the September 11 survivors' community, eventually serving as president of the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network. Her deception was exposed following an investigation by the New York Times as the sixth anniversary of the attacks approached.

Head had fabricated a detailed account of surviving the attacks, claiming she was working for Merrill Lynch on the 78th floor of the South Tower when the second plane struck. She described suffering severe injuries, being aided by Welles Remy Crowther—the “man in the red bandanna”—and witnessing dramatic scenes, including a dying man handing her a wedding ring to deliver to his wife. She also falsely claimed that her husband or fiancé had been killed in the North Tower.

In reality, Head was living in Barcelona, Spain, attending graduate school during the attacks and was not in the United States. Her presence in the community included giving tours at Ground Zero and becoming a highly visible face of the survivors' movement.