10-month-old AP girl Saanvi found dead, family friend held in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Oct 27: The body of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna, abducted from her apartment has been found from the basement of an apartment block here on Friday.Saanvi, who was kidnapped earlier this week, was found dead in the basement of an apartment in the Philadelphia township of King of Prussia at about 4.30 a.m. (local time) on Friday, a Philadelphia police official said.Saanvi was kidnapped and her 61-year-old paternal grandmother, Satyavathi Venna, was killed by unidentified persons on Monday. The authorities had announced a US$50,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the toddler.“We have arrested a family friend, identified as Raghu Yandamuri, who was demanding a ransom,” the official said, adding that there were 10 copies of identical ransom notes demanding $50,000 found near the apartment.“We have filed charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and theft against Yandamuri. What we have learnt during the course of investigation is that this individual planned to kidnap Saanvi and was going to hold her for ransom,” the official said. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman says the family friend planned to kidnap the girl and hold her for a $50,000 ransom. The suspect, Raghunandan Yandamuri, who Ferman said assisted in the search for the little girl is now facing several charges including murder, kidnapping, robbery and other related offences. Venna had been missing since Oct. 22, the day her 60-year-old grandmother was found slain in the family's Upper Merion Township apartment. Pennsylvania State Police had issued an AMBER Child Abduction Alert. District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Ms. Satyavathi's body was discovered inside the apartment. She was babysitting the child. She had arrived in the U.S. in July 2012 and was scheduled to return to India in January 2013. The parents of the child, Venkata Konda Siva Venna and Chenchu Latha Punuru, emigrated from India in February 2007. IANS adds from Hyderabad : The killing of 10-month-old girl kidnapped in Philadelphia in the US on Monday has plunged her family in Andhra Pradessh's Guntur district in gloom.According to information reaching the family Friday night, Y. Raghu, said to be a relative of the victims, kidnapped Saani Venna after murdering her grandmother Satyavathi Venna, 61.The family was shocked on hearing the news of the infant's tragic killing by Raghu, who had demanded a ransom of $50,000.According to information reaching the family in Guntur, about 300 km from here, Philadelphia police cracked the case with the arrest of Raghu, who confessed to killing both the child and her grandmother.Dispute over property reportedly led to the ghastly crime. The family was initially suspecting the involvement of African Americans.Satyavathi was slain and Sravani was kidnapped at a suburban apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania state on Monday afternoon. The woman had gone to the US in July this year to look after her granddaughter. She was babysitting the child when unidentified people broke into the flat.Her son, Ramprasad Reddy, and daughter-in-law, Ch. Latha, both software professionals, were away in office.Before leaving the flat with the kidnapped child, Raghu had left a note demanding a ransom. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which had also joined the investigations into the sensational crime, was tightlipped about the ransom demand so that the child could be rescued.The Telugu community in the US had announced an award of $30,000 for information about the infant.The double tragedy has shocked Satyavathi's husband Venna Konda Reddy, who retired as a mandal education officer in Prakasam district, also in south coastal Andhra Pradesh.Meanwhile, Telugu Association of North America (TANA) said the body of Satyavathi would be flown home Monday.