A 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student is believed to have drowned in a big wave during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, a report says.
Sudiksha Konanki, from northern Virginia, was reported missing last Thursday in Punta Cana after last being seen on a beach at the five-star Riu Republica Resort, according to a flyer being circulated online. Konanki was part of a group of six female University of Pittsburgh students traveling to the area, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital.
Konanki was seen walking on the beach with six people on March 5, prior to her disappearance, three Dominican officials told ABC News. During the night, most of the group went back to the hotel, but one person stayed behind with her on the beach in the early morning hours of March 6, the network added, citing an investigative police report.
The report stated Konanki and this person went for a swim and were caught in a big wave and the officials said she is believed to have died by drowning, according to ABC News.
PITT STUDENT VANISHES ON SPRING BREAK TRIP TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WHILE WALKING ON BEACH
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, from northern Virginia, was first reported missing on Thursday in the Dominican Republic. (Handout, left, and Defensa Civil Dominicana, right.)
Investigators later were questioning a “young man” who went into the waters of the beach around the time Konanki disappeared, the Dominican Republic newspaper Listin Diario reported.
“We are still in information gathering stage,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told “Fox & Friends” on Monday when asked about the young man. “Her friends have all been accounted for, that is the good news. Obviously, our heart breaks for the family. We want to find her, we want to hopefully find her safe and sound. Right now, there is just so much that we don’t know.”
“It is a reminder for all of us that it is easy when we are on vacation … to always be mindful both of when, where and who you are with and also make sure that you are traveling with groups,” Miyares added. “Because, unfortunately, you do have criminal elements in almost every country, that their number one target is always foreign tourists. They know this is a place they are not familiar with.”
Konanki is a citizen of India and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said she is a permanent legal U.S. resident. She is described in the flyer as 5 feet, 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes.
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A tropical beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Konanki was last seen around 4:50 a.m. on March 6 while visiting the country. (iStock)
The flyer said she was last seen wearing a brown, two-piece bikini, big round earrings, a metal designer anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right hand and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left hand.
The embassy of India in the Dominican Republic is working with the State Department and law enforcement on the ground, a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said.
“The LCSO is working closely with our federal partners at the U.S. Department of State, FBI, DEA, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as well as the University of Pittsburgh police in support of the ongoing investigation by the Dominican National Police,” they added in a statement on Sunday.
Defensa Civil Dominicana, a Dominican Republic search and rescue force, said Saturday it had completed a full day’s search for Konanki with operations scheduled to resume on Sunday.
Punta Cana is located in the east of the Caribbean island nation and is a popular tourist hotspot. (Google Maps)
The University of Pittsburgh said it is in contact with Konanki’s family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and have offered their full support to find her and bring her home safely, the institution told WTAE.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/american-college-student-believed-have-drowned-big-wave-report
