Saniyya Dennis.Photo: SUNY Buffalo State College
A statement from Dennis' family, which is working with the African American Juvenile Justice Project to locate the missing SUNY Buffalo State College student, says, “Saniyya is alive until evidence proves otherwise. The family will continue to search for her and offer the reward. She is truly loved and the family wants the person or persons to return her home. No questions asked.”
“All evidence indicates that Saniyya ended her own life, but the investigation into her disappearance will not be closed until she is found,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynnsaid in a press release.
Ata press conference, Flynn said Dennis had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend over the phone that day, resulting in a breakup. Dennis then tried calling him 59 times before texting him that she was going to kill herself, Flynn said.
But Dennis' family disputes Flynn’s assertion that she killed herself, saying Flynn “did not produce Saniyya’s body, a suicide note, witness or video to her jumping off the bridge, or reason to commit suicide.”
Her family also questions whether Dennis even went to Niagara Falls. The family says Flynn showed them a still photo purporting to show Dennis at the falls. But, they say, the photo merely showed a black dot, which they said was likely either a water drop or debris. Had Dennis gone to the falls, says the family, they would have seen more photo or video evidence, such as evidence of her presence at bus depots or on the bus itself.
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Dennis' family also says she didn’t have a boyfriend, saying in the statement that she “was not in an exclusive or serious relationship.” They added they never received proof of the calls Flynn said she made.
The AAJJP provided PEOPLE with messages Dennis sent a friend the night she disappeared, in which she says she would be coming back to campus.
In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said: “The Erie County District Attorney’s Office shared the findings of the investigation with Saniyya’s family on May 5. As previously stated, our office, along with our partners in law enforcement, have found no evidence of any criminality in this case.”
The family statement disputes this, saying Flynn “never discussed any findings” with them.
While there are more questions than answers in Dennis' disappearance, the Bronx-native’s family is left reeling and searching for their loved one.
source: people.com
