by EMILY MELTON
News Reporter

Though police say freshman studio art major Raisa D. Sheikh may have died last weekend of an alcohol overdose, her father, Danny Sheikh, still has questions about what happened to his daughter.

“Where did it all start? Where were the other kids? Who was there? Who brought this alcohol into it? How did they get to it? Where was it going on? What street was it? There are so many questions and nobody’s answering those questions,” Danny Sheikh said.

After receiving a call for help at approximately 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, Raisa was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon.

Danny Sheikh said he has received little information relating to the cause of Raisa’s death and is pressing charges against Appalachian State University.

“This is a surprising silence,” he said. “Somebody really has blood on their hands. Nobody’s contacting, nobody came, nobody’s saying anything. They are trying to cover it up like it was an unfortunate incident.”

Boone Police Chief Bill Post said the investigation of the case is ongoing and it may take 10 to 16 weeks to receive toxicology reports.

“We’re still investigating it and interviewing people that were with her that evening and just trying to track down, as best we can, what exactly happened,” he said. “Sort of re-tracing her activities that night.”

Dean of Students Susie L. Greene met Raisa’s family at Watauga Medical Center and said she has been in touch with them since Raisa was admitted to the hospital. 

Greene said she has not received any information about legal action the family may take and representatives from Appalachian will remain in contact with the family.

“[For] all of the families who have had students who have died, we have a memorial service in September for [them],” she said. “The book from [Plemmons] Student Union we’ll be sending to them and we’ll be working with them as they deal with her things.”

Cindy A. Wallace, vice chancellor for Student Development, said representatives from Appalachian talked with the family both before and after Raisa’s death, but have not had contact as of press time.

“The day she was buried, we thought that’s where the family needed to be,” she said. “It’s just so new right now and there is profound grief, I’m sure, in the many stages a family goes through in that grieving process.”

Wallace also said the police investigation is ongoing.

“[There’s] a lot of information that is not available to the public. We are not conducting that investigation, the police are, but we’re very interested in helping our students through this process,” she said. “I think Raisa had many friends on campus and there are a lot of people who are just profoundly sad right now.”

Until further information develops, Raisa’s father continues to seek answers for the cause of his daughters’ death.

“We only understand what was published and that the police said she died of excessive alcohol,” he said. “Where did this alcohol come from? Who served it? Where did it happen? Who else was there? Was she a victim of foul play? I need everybody’s help to find out.”

Those who know any information in connection with Raisa’s death are urged to contact Boone Police Detective David W. Osborne at 268-6900.

Anonymous reports will be received through Crime Stoppers at 268-6959.

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