Chip Chick
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn explained at a press conference that on the day she vanished, Saniyya got into an argument with her boyfriend, who lives in the metro area of New York City.
She called and texted back and forth with him around noon, and he ended up breaking off their relationship.
After this happened, Saniyya called one of her close friends to tell them that she and her boyfriend are broken up.
Saniyya then tried to call her now ex-boyfriend 59 times. He didn’t pick up any of Saniyya’s calls, so then she started texting him, and he threatened to block her.
“During this time, this poor young girl makes a number of texts to her now ex-boyfriend telling him ‘I’m not feeling good, please pick up, I think I’m going to kill myself.’ No pickup, no response,” Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said.
“Another text, she says something along the lines of ‘Whatever, I will,'” John continued.
“And then she says some more stuff that I won’t get into but the end of that text there is ‘I’m so done with my life and living it, I’ve finally had enough.'”
Buffalo State Police; pictured above Saniyya smiles
Saniyya placed a call to her mom, confiding in her that she was upset about her breakup. She called her ex a couple more times, who still didn’t pick up, and then she started calling and texting one of her male friends.
This male friend spent several hours connecting with her, and she told him she was reconsidering taking her life, which he believed.
Towards the evening, Saniyya got into the elevator of her dorm room and left. Security cameras pick her up outside of her dorm, throwing her personal things into the garbage.
“She threw away personal items that would lead someone to believe she was not returning to the dorm,” Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn went on to say.
The next thing Saniyya did was get on a bus all by herself, and she got off in Niagara Falls State Park.
Security cameras in the park capture her walking on a bridge in the park, and at 1:23 a.m. on April 25th Saniyya’s phone was “either powered off or destroyed.”
You can watch the first half of the press conference where Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn gives updates on Saniyya’s case here and the second half of the conference here.
“While the Erie County District Attorney’s Office does not typically become involved in missing person cases unless there is evidence of criminality, we assisted in this multi-agency effort to find Saniyya at the request of SUNY Buffalo State College University Police,” Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn wrote in a statement.
“My office and our partners in law enforcement have found no evidence of any criminality in this case.”
“All evidence indicates that Saniyya ended her own life, but the investigation into her disappearance will not be closed until she is found.”
Facebook; pictured above is a statement from Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn
Katherine Conway-Turner, the president of SUNY Buffalo State College, said, “On behalf of the entire Buffalo State community, we continue to extend our deepest and heartfelt comfort and support to Saniyya’s family and friends.”
“I would ask that our campus and Western New York community keep her family in your thoughts.”
“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.”
Buffalo State Police; pictured above is another photo of Saniyya
