Deceased/Not Found NY - Saniyya Dennis, 19, SUNY College Student, Buffalo, 24 Apr 2021

[lynmaree]

Sorry to be blunt, but let's assume she was indeed there.
If alone, is there a risk of self-harm without being seen (i.e. on camera), or can we almost certainly rule that scenario out as it probably would have been caught on camera?
Can we assume if she (alone or with a companion) was there, they will find footage proving she/ they were there?

I guess I am hoping that this area is different from the cases where there isn't really camera footage of the area or the cameras have been known to miss a person who was indeed there.

If she was in fact ON Goat Island a camera picked her up crossing onto it. If she was concealed in an unknown vehicle or had a hood up or something like that it would prob be very hard to find her. There are cameras at the falls yes...all over...but to say with 100% certainty they would have captured her if she went in is impossible. You would be surprised how many people go over each year without it being known. The upper part of the park and Theee Sisters Island is where the water appears to be calm but is not and it is much less populated than the part where the falls are visible. And at this time of night, if you really were determined, it would be very easy to avoid the cameras once on the island

 

[Curiousobserver]

According to various report, this was the actitvity on her phone that night:

She texted her mother at 12:20
She exchanged texts with a friend at 12:52
She messaged friends on Instagram at 12:57
She sent a photo on Snapchat at unknown time (the location pictured matches the last ping location)

Her phone went silent at 1:23, less than half an hour after the last publicly known communication.

IMO the authorities and family know if she was at the park alone, but won't release that info.
I wonder how many people would normally be there at night at this time of year.

Not completely empty at that time. A lot of tourists walk through the park to see the falls at night and the skyline of Niagara Falls, ON.

Its not especially dangerous but its also not a place people go to at night, especially now that the Canadian border is closed.

I thought there were barricades for Goat island at night but perhaps that is just for cars.

Her texts seem pretty casual.

Niagara Falls sometimes get a bad rap but people in WNY are very kind and if she had been just wandering the street the most likely thing is that somebody would have helped her- and the NYS park police are always around in that park.

There is a Casino up the road a few blocks. If she was cold, she may have walked in to warm up. It's always open and looks safe.

I am sure LE has thought of this but did she try and Uber/Lyft back to the dorm I wonder...

 

[mlhenn]

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-new...udent-saniyya-dennis-makes-national-headlines

Niagara Falls State Park was the last place Dennis' cell phone was pinged.

Stevens (search coordinator) says people on foot patrol in Niagara Falls State Park found a black shirt, near Luna Island.

The Snapchat photo appears to have been taken near the Nikola Tesla statue on Goat Island.

At this point, there is no video showing Saniyya in Niagara Falls. There is, however, a picture of her in an elevator on the Buffalo State College campus.

There is also video of the 19-year-old from the NFTA. What that video shows is unclear. It is also unclear where that video came from.


"It's from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority," said Chief Peter Carey. "I'm going to confirm that and discuss with the family first."

There has been no update since.

Saniyya's mother did not want to speak with 7 Eyewitness News, Monday.

 

[alibrarian]

There are two State University of New York (SUNY) institutions in Erie County in New York State. There is The University at Buffalo (UB) and Buffalo State College (BSC or Buff State). Saniyya attends Buffalo State College. There are some confusing posts on Twitter referring to these two separate institutions as one. They are a few miles apart, and so looking at bus routes from The University at Buffalo (which has two campuses, one on Main St and one in the suburbs) is not going to be the same.

The University at Buffalo has put out a media statement referring the University Police Department at Buffalo State College:

UB statement on missing SUNY Buffalo State student

 

[indicolite22]

I wonder why the mother doesn't want to speak to the media. Does she think that further publicity isn't needed? Or perhaps the family received information that they aren't allowed to share due to the ongoing investigation?

 

[andalso]

Bridal Veil Falls (Niagara Falls) - Wikipedia

 

[Curiousobserver]

I wonder why the mother doesn't want to speak to the media. Does she think that further publicity isn't needed? Or perhaps the family received information that they aren't allowed to share due to the ongoing investigation?

There is a little animosity on the part of the family toward the way this was handled.

I agree with them, it was 3 days before an investigation started and 4-5 days more before local media noticed the posting from the college police department.

The family alerted UPD right away.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

NBC news report from last evening: Search Underway For Missing New York College Student | NBC Nightly News - YouTube

 

[SimplyCass]

Could she have taken #20 from college to downtown and then #40 to Niagara Falls (as her friend suggested)?

some early reports said that the security camera footage was from the bus terminal in downtown Buffalo. The video has not yet been released or been further confirmed.

Perhaps the report of her taking the bus to Black Rock Depot is an error? But she would have no reason to disembark at Black Rock if she was on 40A already.

it was also reported she had a job at a library in downtown Buffalo so she would be familiar with the area and that bus route.

 

[indicolite22]

Saniyya's uncle at the April 30 press conference after the family received a briefing from police (excerpt):

"There was a conversation on her phone... from that afternoon until one o'clock in the morning and that person hadn't been questioned. And that person made some very important and scary statements... and that person is not considered a suspect in this case. Between two o'clock in the afternoon... midnight when my sister got a text message from her phone... and the text read in a way... Saniyya doesn't speak like that, her language isn't like that. And we let them know that... After that text message was sent to my sister's phone, the conversation between that individual that was on the phone with her continued until one o'clock."

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1619781514875433

It looks like she was in touch with someone via phone for a prolonged period that afternoon/night. For now, the police seemingly want to keep that under wraps.

The uncle is questioning why the person in communication with Saniyya hasn't had their pings examined. Is it likely that the police could get a warrant for those phone records?

 

[whitelilac]

How would the text conversation contents with that unknown individual be known, if her phone has not been found?

 

[indicolite22]

How would the text conversation contents with that unknown individual be known, if her phone has not been found?

I think her sister stated that she shared a phone plan with Saniyya. I'm not sure if her texts were visible by the sister, only that Saniyya communicated with the same person. Some of the information could have come from the police.

 

[Steelhead]

This is reminding me of the MacKenzie Lueck case.

 

[Inthedetails]

This is reminding me of the MacKenzie Lueck case.

My heart sank reading that. I hope not.

Saniyya, where you are?

 

[indicolite22]

Saniyya's most recent fb account (last post April 13): Sani Inoh

 

[Teche]

Saniyya's uncle at the April 30 press conference after the family received a briefing from police (excerpt):

"There was a conversation on her phone... from that afternoon until one o'clock in the morning and that person hadn't been questioned. And that person made some very important and scary statements... and that person is not considered a suspect in this case. Between two o'clock in the afternoon... midnight when my sister got a text message from her phone... and the text read in a way... Saniyya doesn't speak like that, her language isn't like that. And we let them know that... After that text message was sent to my sister's phone, the conversation between that individual that was on the phone with her continued until one o'clock."

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1619781514875433

It looks like she was in touch with someone via phone for a prolonged period that afternoon/night. For now, the police seemingly want to keep that under wraps.

The uncle is questioning why the person in communication with Saniyya hasn't had their pings examined. Is it likely that the police could get a warrant for those phone records?

Unfortunately, we have seen the length of time it takes for LE’s warrant to get cell phone info from providers.

 

[indicolite22]

Father of Saniyya Dennis pleads for Old Falls Street businesses to submit surveillance footage
https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-new...eet-businesses-to-submit-surveillance-footage

Byrd says he's seen surveillance video that police believe is his daughter walking in Niagara Falls, but it is unclear because the video is from cameras that are far away.

"According to the camera that I've seen - we've seen one dot with black clothing. It appears that she was by herself."

Police believe Saniyya took the bus from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, and her family believes once she arrived, she walked down Old Falls Street to get into Niagara Falls State Park.

He asked specifically for Flip Burger, Mario's Pizza, the Hyatt Place Hotel, the Culinary Institute and others to see if they happened to catch anything.

 

[Curiousobserver]

I think her sister stated that she shared a phone plan with Saniyya. I'm not sure if her texts were visible by the sister, only that Saniyya communicated with the same person. Some of the information could have come from the police.

If they share a phone plan through Verizon, the plan owner can log into Verizon wireless and see the phone number and times of all the texts without any police involvement.

At least I can with my family who shares a plan.

 

[K9Enzo]

If they share a phone plan through Verizon, the plan owner can log into Verizon wireless and see the phone number and times of all the texts without any police involvement.

At least I can with my family who shares a plan.

Yes and most young people this age are still on a plan with someone else. IMO

 

[SimplyCass]

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-new...udent-saniyya-dennis-makes-national-headlines

Stevens says people on foot patrol in Niagara Falls State Park found a black shirt, near Luna Island.

"That's where they suspect that her last Snapchat photo was taken," Stevens said.

The Snapchat photo appears to have been taken near the Nikola Tesla statue on Goat Island.

[Snipped media/Google Maps link for focus]

Has there been any more info about the shirt found? Is it linked to Saniyya? Was she wearing a black shirt? The elevator still shows her wearing a black sweater, black pants, black beanie, and something gold color - her shirt? Luna Island is a stone throw's away from the Nikola Tesla statue - about 250 ft or so.