Community continues to search for missing Buffalo State student Saniyya Dennis

The search for 19-year-old Buffalo State student Saniyya Dennis continues more than one week after her disappearance.

The honors student and daughter of former Dipset rapper 40 Cal was last seen leaving her Buffalo State residence hall around 11 p.m. on April 24, according to a statement released by Buffalo State Police. Three days later, the department said they received the last ping of her cell phone, which placed her device near Niagara Falls’ Goat Island, according to WGRZ. 

Investigators believe Dennis may be in need of medical attention, and that she may still be in the Western New York area or have traveled to Yonkers, NY. Police have found no evidence of foul play. 

Dennis’ family and activists called police efforts to find the missing Bronx native “inadequate.” 

“Why does it take so long to get subpoenas to cell phone records?” Dennis’ father said in a press conference last week. “Why does it take so long to get video footage of buses? If this was somebody else’s kid, I think it [wouldn’t have] happened like this.”

Buffalo State Police said they couldn’t conduct an extensive ground search because there was no evidence Dennis would be a harm to herself or others, according to WGRZ. The department said that weather issues prevented them from getting a helicopter in the air last week and there wasn’t a K-9 search until last Friday.

In a statement released Saturday, Buffalo State Chief of University Police Peter Carey wrote that the department is working alongside police agencies at the “local, state and federal level,” such as the New York State Police, NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services Clearinghouse and the United States Secret Service, to find Dennis.

As this remains an active missing person case and “to ensure the integrity of this multi-agency investigation,” Carey wrote, police are “limited in their ability to share further information.” 

Updates as to Dennis’ whereabouts and her case can be found on the SUNY Buffalo State Police website and new leads can be shared anonymously through the university police anonymous tip line at (716) 878-3166, or by calling the NYS Missing Persons Clearinghouse at (800) 346-3543.

Alexandra Moyen is the senior features editor and can be reached at alexandra.moyen@ubspectrum.com or on Twitter @AlexandraMoyen

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