According to officials on May 6, Saniyya Dennis, a Buffalo State University teenager who went missing last month, is believed to have died by suicide.
John Flynn, the district attorney in Erie County, reported that although officials have not discovered the body of Dennis, “evidence suggests” she took her own life.
In a news conference held by Erie County, Flynn said, “An exhaustive search and review of the evidence has been done, and it appears that this poor girl took her own life.”
The district attorney reported that on the night of April 24, Dennis got into an argument with her boyfriend, which led to him breaking up with her. She then tried to call him several times to which he did not answer her, and then called another male friend and discussed committing suicide.
According to Flynn, Dennis was seen throwing away “personal items that would lead someone to believe that she was not returning to the dorm” and took a bus to Niagara Falls State Park alone.
After talking to a friend on the phone for 45 minutes, she texted him, saying she had talked to her mother and was on her way back to Buffalo, which was not true. Only minutes later, her phone left her cellular network.
Search dogs lost Dennis’ scent near the water’s edge of Niagara Falls, said Flynn.
“Looking at Niagara Falls, the area is just filled with rocks,” he said. “If what I believe happened, happened, we may never find the body. She may be caught in the jagged rocks there.”
Katherine Conway-Turner, the president of Buffalo State College, said, “Those of us who met Saniyya know her as a bright honors student and a beautiful young woman with a big heart and a promising future in her field (mechanical engineering technology). She will forever be a member of our Buffalo State family.”
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BET reported that Keyora, Dennis’s sister, said that her sister’s disappearance was “not of her nature.”
“Saniyya worked two jobs. She was a mechanical engineer major. She was very focused on her studies,” her sister said. “She was a good friend. A good person. She has a good heart.”
Erie County’s search for Dennis will continue, according to Flynn.
Sister2Sister reported that her father, former Dipset rapper 40Cal, recently offered a $10,000 reward for any useful information on her disappearance.
