It is a tragic evening for an Upper Merion community of Pennsylvania where an amber alert has been called off in the search for 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and her abductor. Raghunandan Yandamuri, a family friend, has been arrested in the baby’s murder and as well faces charges in the murder of the baby’s grandmother Satyavathi Venna, age 61.
According to NBCNews and the affidavit, authorities said the grandmother opened the door to Yandamuri on Monday morning to see he was armed with a kitchen knife. While he picked up the baby from the couch, Yandamuri told police he dropped the baby and the grandmother came toward him and walked into the knife which gashed her throat.
There were ransom notes found during the search and evidence may make this seem like a botched kidnapping for ransom attempt. Stated by NBCNews, Yandamuri is being held without bail on two counts of murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges pending a preliminary hearing next week. He does not have a lawyer and did not enter a plea at a brief arraignment Friday afternoon. He told a judge he is not a U.S. citizen and was given time to make a private call to the Indian consulate.
More detail on arrested suspect click here.
In Memory of Saanvi Venna Facebook page click here.
