Authorities within the Dominican Republic are searching on land, by air and within the ocean for a 20-year-old student from the University of Pittsburgh who disappeared last week on spring break in Punta Cana.
Sudiksha Konanki was last seen on a surveillance camera with seven other people entering the beach on the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana around 4:15 a.m. on Thursday, in accordance with an announcement from the Dominican National Police.
Konanki, a resident of Virginia’s Loudoun County, had arrived within the Dominican Republic on Monday, March 3 with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh. Police learned about her disappearance after 8 a.m. on Friday through a call from the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo.
Around 5:55 a.m. on Thursday, the surveillance camera captured five women and one man leaving the beach. Konanki is believed to have stayed behind with a young man, in accordance with an area police source speaking with CNN.
Surveillance video also shows the person leaving the beach area at 9:55 a.m. with no sign of Konanki, the source told the outlet.
ABC News reports that Konanki is believed to have died by drowning. In response to a police report, cited by ABC News, police said Konanki and the person she was with were caught by a giant wave once they went for a swim.
Authorities have interviewed the person to search out out details about what happened when the 2 were alone. The Dominican police are also broadening their investigation to corroborate the person’s story and questioning the individuals who were last seen with Konanki on Thursday.
“Thus far, the authorities, multiple authorities here within the Dominican Republic have searched within the waters. They searched using helicopters and other tools. In addition they searched within the near bay, bushes, trees. They went multiple times around the identical areas,” Konaki’s father, Subbarayudu, said to CNN.
“My daughter is a really nice girl,” he added. “She’s ambitious. She desired to pursue a profession in medicine.”
In response to Konanki’s father, she had told her friends Wednesday that she was heading to a celebration on the resort.
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“She went to the beach on March 6, early morning around 4 a.m. with friends and another guys they met on the resort,” he said. “After that, her friends got here back after a while and my daughter didn’t come back, didn’t show up from the beach.”
Konaki’s father wants local authorities “to also investigate other possibilities, including whether this can be a case of kidnapping or human trafficking.”
“We don’t think she would have the ability to survive for greater than three days within the water and I feel something else might’ve happened to her,” he added.
La Altagracia Civil Defense, the local Dominican Republic emergency operations agency, said the seek for Konanki began on Friday.
In response to NBC News, national police said an “exhaustive search has been initiated by sea, air and land” using drones, helicopters, divers, boats and canine units.
“Several brigades have been deployed by sea and land to search out the whereabouts of the foreigner,” the agency said in an announcement.
Authorities resumed the search at 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, continuing to make use of drones and helicopters to assist with the search.
“In coordination with the Tourism Police, the Civil Defense, the Dominican Navy, the National Police, and other rescue organizations, 4 teams of drones equipped with advanced technology have been deployed to conduct an intensive search within the coastal area of Bávaro,” the Dominican National Emergency System said in an announcement issued on Sunday.
The Riu Hotels chain said in an announcement on Sunday that it was “deeply concerned in regards to the disappearance of considered one of our guests.”
“From the moment her absence was reported, we now have been working closely with the local authorities, including the police and the navy, to conduct an intensive search,” the hotel said. “We would love to precise our deepest sympathy to the family and friends during this incredibly difficult time … we’re fully committed to doing every little thing in our power to help in this case.”
A University of Pittsburgh spokesperson has urged anyone with information on Konanki’s disappearance to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
“University officials are involved with Sudiksha Konanki’s family in addition to authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and we now have offered our full support of their efforts to search out her and produce her home safely,” the spokesperson told NBC News.
Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman said his office is working with Dominican authorities and state and federal agencies to assist locate Konanki.
The FBI also said Dominican authorities are leading the investigation however the bureau “stands able to assist our international partners with any requests for assistance.”
Konanki can be a citizen of India, but her family has lived in the US since 2006 and are everlasting residents.
The Indian Embassy within the Dominican Republic can be helping with the investigation.
“The embassy of India within the DR has taken the lead working with our state department and law-enforcement on the bottom. Our office is supporting those efforts and continuing to research locally,” the sheriff’s office said in an announcement to CNN.
The news comes after an Edmonton man suffered a traumatic brain injury in a barroom attack within the Dominican Republic.
Chase Delorme-Rowan was at a resort bar on the Royalton Splash in Punta Cana together with his family in January to have a good time his 18th birthday when he was lifted by the collar of his shirt and slammed head first onto a tile floor at a resort bar.
It cracked his skull from top to bottom, and a blood clot the dimensions of a grapefruit displaced his brain.
A Canadian man who was also a guest on the resort has been charged with assault causing bodily harm.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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