Some officials believe a University of Pittsburgh student missing since Thursday in the Dominican Republic died of drowning, but authorities in her Virginia home community say there is no evidence yet to support that.
A search is continuing for Sudiksha Konanki, 20, who was last seen just before 5 a.m. Thursday, at the Hotel Riu Republica in Punta Cana. According to a social media post from Defensa Civil, a Dominican Republic search and rescue force, Konanki was last seen walking on a beach before her disappearance.
Citing police sources, CNN reported surveillance cameras captured images of six other people leaving the beach at about 6 a.m. Thursday.
The news organization said a young man believed to have stayed behind with Konanki has been questioned by investigators.
Konanki, a resident of Loudoun County in Northern Virginia, is originally from India.
Konanki’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, told CNN that his daughter had gone to Punta Cana for spring break, ahead of pre-med studies at Pitt.
His daughter told her friends Wednesday that she was heading to a party at the resort, he said. He said her friends later alerted authorities when she wasn’t in her room.
Dominican officials involved in the investigation told ABC News that Konanki is believed to have drowned in the ocean.
The news organization cited police sources indicating Konanki and the person who stayed with her on the beach may have been caught by a big wave when they went for a swim.
Chad Quinn, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, said officials in the Dominican Republic have speculated about that scenario. “At this time, we are not aware of any evidence to support the theory,” he said.
Subbarayudu Konanki told CNN he wants authorities to look into additional possibilities in his daughter’s disappearance, including whether she way have been the victim of kidnapping or human trafficking.
“They’re only looking in the water, but I want them to also investigate other possibilities including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking,” he told CNN on Sunday.“We don’t think she would be able to survive for more than three days in the water and I think something else might’ve happened to her.”
Thomas Julia, director of media relations for the sheriff’s office, said the office was contacted Thursday night about Konanki’s disappearance and has confirmed she was one of six female Pitt students traveling in Punta Cana. At least two members of the group are residents of Loudoun County, he said.
“The embassy of India in the Dominican Republic has taken the lead working with our State Department and law enforcement on the ground. Our office is supporting those efforts and continuing to investigate locally,” Julia said in an email.
The University of Pittsburgh released a statement: “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.”
A March 8 article in Dominican Today carried a statement from the Hotel Riu Republica: “We are deeply concerned about the disappearance of one of our guests, who has not been seen since the early hours of [Thursday] morning. From the moment this absence was reported we have been working closely with local authorities, including the Police and Navy, to carry out a thorough search.”
According to Konanki’s LinkedIn profile, she graduated in 2022 from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology where she earned a diploma in biological sciences. Thomas Jefferson was ranked the No. 1 high school in America in 2021 and 2022 by U.S. News & World Report.
Anyone with information about Konanki’s whereabouts is asked to call the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office at 703-777-1021.