Jasmine Joseph, a 22-year-old Indian-American student who went missing on February 24, was found dead on Tuesday in her car in a New York parking lot, less than a mile from her home. Police believe it to be a case of suicide with death caused by inhalation of a noxious substance.
Reports, however, quoted her father, Sony Joseph, as saying that his daughter “would never do something like that”, as she was a very happy person. An electronics technician with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, he said he would press the police for further investigation. He also said that he and other family members had checked the same parking lot last Friday and Saturday, but did not see his daughter’s car there.
Jasmine Joseph was last seen leaving her home in Syosset, long Island in her Nissan Altima on February 24. She was believed to be going to attend class at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in Old Westbury. She called her parents that evening to tell them she was studying at the library. That was for the last time that her parents heard from her.
Nassau Police Inspector Kenneth lack said Joseph’s body had been in her car for an “extensive period of time”. He, however, noted that passersby would not have been able to notice the body as it was found on the car floor “wedged between the front and back seats”. The body has been sent for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. There was no word from the police if Joseph had left any suicide note.
In recent days, Joseph’s mysterious disappearance was followed by the curious discovery that she had not been attending classes since May last year. That piece of news came as a shock to her parents who had paid her tuition for Fall 2013 and Winter 2014 classes.
It was all the more incredulous for them since Jasmine was a bright student, with ‘A’ grades. Jasmine’s mother was quoted as saying that she did not see her daughter’s report card this time, but “last spring, the other semesters, she was a straight-A student”. When her father asked to see the report card, she reportedly said there was something wrong with the computer.