Authorities in three countries are investigating the disappearance of a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing last week while on spring break in the Dominican Republic.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, went for an early-morning walk March 6 on the beach in Punta Cana, where she and five friends had traveled to spend a week soaking in the sun during their academic break.
The University of Pittsburgh junior was last seen on the beach at 4:50 a.m. that day at Riu Republica Resort, according to an Instagram post and missing-person flyer.
Konanki, an Indian citizen, lives with her family in Virginia’s Loudoun County. Her family reported her missing to the Loudoun County sheriff’s office on Thursday and officials “immediately followed up with federal law enforcement, the U.S. State Department and contacts in the DR,” a spokesman told the Daily News. “We have confirmed that there were six female students of the University of Pittsburgh traveling in Punta Cana, at least two of whom are residents of Loudoun County (Va.), one of whom is the missing person who is also a citizen of India.”
The Embassy of India in the Dominican Republic “has taken the lead,” working with Dominican authorities and U.S. federal agencies including the State Department, the sheriff’s office said, adding: “Our office is supporting those efforts and continuing to investigate locally.”
On Sunday Dominican Civil Defense called in the military to assist with drones and helicopters, the agency said in an Instagram post with footage of the search efforts.
“Several brigades have been deployed by sea and land,” local emergency operations agency La Altagracia Civil Defense said, including civil defense, local firefighters, the Dominican Navy and the National Police.
The University of Pittsburgh is also lending its support, a spokesman told The News in an email.
“University officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konanki’s family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Va., and we have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,” the spokesman said.
“We don’t know if there’s any foul play or if she accidentally went missing,” Loudoun County sheriff’s office spokesman Thomas Julia told WTOP-TV. “This is primarily being handled on the ground in the Dominican Republic.”
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