Kenni Ndili, an incoming MBA/MA student at the Lauder Institute, who was reported missing on May 21, has been found safely today after being missing for six days, according to a tweet from the Wharton School.
In a tweet on May 25, Ndili’s mother, Njide Ndili, stated that it appeared as if her daughter was robbed and went missing shortly after. Ndili has since been rescued, and was being transported to her brother’s location at the time of her post.
Ndili was last seen leaving her Airbnb on North 37th Street on May 19 at midday, Njide Ndili told The Daily Pennsylvanian in an interview. According to her mother, Ndili arrived in Philadelphia on May 10 from Nigeria to search for apartments prior to the program’s start date of June 1.
Ndili’s missing person poster claimed she was last seen wearing a “black silk gown” with “all white sneakers.” It also states that she is 5 foot 9 inches, 220 pounds, and 26 years old with dark brown skin and hair.
Njide Ndili said that she was in contact with her daughter from May 10 until May 18, when she stopped answering her calls and texts.
Amid growing concern, Njide Ndili asked a friend in Philadelphia to check on her daughter on May 18. After her friend couldn’t get into the Airbnb, he called emergency services to perform a wellness check. However, the elder Ndili said that emergency services never showed up to the Airbnb that her daughter was staying at.
Kenni Ndili’s brother, Nnamdi Ndili, arrived in Philadelphia from Nigeria on May 19. He went to her Airbnb and noticed that the only thing missing was Kenni Ndili’s purse which included her American passport and phone.
“We [were] all at a loss as to what happened to her,” Ndili said to the DP.
Ndili shared that the last known signal from her daughter’s phone was received on May 19 at 9 a.m. at a corner store close to her Airbnb.
“We [didn’t] know whether she was mugged,” Ndili said. “[We were] just waiting for information.”
After alerting the University, Njide Ndili said that Penn quickly pressured the Philadelphia Police Department to investigate. However, she said that Philadelphia Police conducted a few interviews but did not treat the case with high priority.
“They said ‘you know, she’s an adult, she will come back,’” Ndili said.
Njide Ndili shared that CCTV recording mechanisms are used in the area surrounding her daughter’s Airbnb, but that she didn’t know if the footage had been accessed or checked.
This is a developing story that will be updated as information becomes available. Please reach out to Summer Executive Editor Jesse Zhang at zhangj@thedp.com if you have information on the story.
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