Authorities Believe Missing 19 Y.O. Buffalo State Student Saniyya Dennis Took Her Own Life

This is so heartbreaking…..

A Buffalo State college student, Saniyya Dennis, 19 was reported missing since April 24. News sources say, her cell phone last pinged on Goat Island in Niagara Falls around 1:23 a.m. April 25.

For 11 days, family/friends and a rescue team have been looking for Dennis. The Erie County District Attorney’s Office partnered with University Police at Buffalo State to lead the search. ABC reports she is presumed to have taken her own life. 

Authorities didn’t locate her body. They believe she took her life based on a timeline since she’s been missing. According to District Attorney John Flynn, Dennis got into an argument with her boyfriend via the phone on April 24. She reportedly tried contacting him 59 times and didn’t hear back. Dennis called her male friend in New York and expressed to him that she planned on killing herself.

Dennis stayed on the phone with her friend for a few more hours before telling him she reconsidered. Around 11 p.m. E.T., surveillance video shows Dennis leaving her dorm. Another video shows her throwing away “personal items” (it’s not clear what they were). According to the timeline, the DA said the items were “things that would lead someone to believe she was not returning to the dorm.”

Then Dennis hopped on a bus to Niagara Falls. She texted her mom and said she loves her and would call the next day. Then Dennis texted her male friend from earlier a troubling message. “I’m sorry I lied. I will not be joining you this summer, at least physically. Thank you for making my day special.” Then Minutes later, Niagara Falls State Park cameras show Dennis walking toward Goat Island.

Niagara Falls State Park cameras show Dennis on the phone with her make friend again for about 45 minutes. The DA said she told him she was going to jump off a bridge. The timeline report says Dennis told her male friend she spoke to her mom, but phone records show that wasn’t true. She said the male friend she would call when she’d got home, but the last outgoing message from her phone came from Goat Island. Her male friend tried calling back later on, but got no response. Dennis’s phone hasn’t been on since. 

Initially, the male friend didn’t report this. When Dennis’s family could not contact her on April 25, they notified Buffalo State, and the investigation began. The male friend told investigators he thought he had talked her out of taking her own life. The DA said, 

“She was troubled over the breakup of her boyfriend. Obviously, she was troubled over the circumstances that happened that day. Everyone reacts differently to crisis in their lives depending on your age depending on your background [and] depending on what’s going on in your life.”

Dennis is the daughter of former Dipset rapper, 40 Cal. He’s been on the ground on a mission to find his baby girl. He met with Buffalo’s mayor, Byron Brown, to discuss the case.

Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers! 

Via