Law enforcement officials in the Dominican Republic are searching for a University of Pittsburgh student from Virginia who disappeared on March 6.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, is missing in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where she was vacationing with five female college friends during spring break, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in Virginia.
The 5-foot-3 student was last seen at 4:50 a.m. local time on the beach of the Riu Republica Resort, wearing a brown bikini, hoop earrings, a designer anklet on her right ankle, steel bracelets on her right wrist, and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist. She has not been heard from since.
LCSO said that Konanki is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States with a residence in Virginia.
“The U.S. part of this investigation is actively looking at all possibilities,” LCSO media relations and communications director Thomas A. Julia told NTD, sister media outlet of The Epoch Times, in a March 10 email.
NTD contacted the U.S. Department of State, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Dominican National Police but did not receive a response by publication time.
Punta Cana is a popular tourist destination, and the Riu Republica Resort is known as an adults-only, all-inclusive “party” resort located less than two miles away from the Cana Bay Golf Club, according to TripAdvisor.com and Booking.com.
“It is fair to say that there have been interviews with a number of persons who may have been with her or aware of her whereabouts last Wednesday and Thursday,” Julia said. “This has included a look at mobile phones as well as hotel surveillance video and other information. Until more is known, it is premature to speculate with confidence about what happened.”
A University of Pittsburgh spokesperson said the Embassy of India in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is involved in the search and that Konanki’s family is aware of her disappearance. Officials at the Embassy of India did not respond to requests for comment.
“University officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konanki’s family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and we have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,” the University of Pittsburgh spokesperson told NTD on March 9.
“We have integrated drones and helicopters from the Armed Forces into the work,” the post stated in Spanish.
Photos showed search crews operating along the beach in La Altagracia Province.
