ARLINGTON, Va. (WRIC) — A college student from Virginia who was reported missing after traveling to the Dominican Republic is now believed to have drowned.
ABC News reported that Sudiksha Konanki, the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student, from Chantilly in Loudoun County went missing in Punta Cana while on spring break with friends. Last week, her father Subbarayudu Konanki asked officials to widen their investigation.
On the night of Wednesday, March 5, Konanki and six female students were walking on the beach near RIU Hotel & Resort. While most of the group returned to the hotel during the night, one person stayed with Konanki, and they both went into the water, according to a Dominican Republic investigative police report.
The Public Ministry was first contacted by the United States embassy in the Dominican Republic on Friday, March 7. Two days later, officials confirmed to ABC News on Sunday, March 9 that Konaki, who is a legal permanent resident of the United States and an Indian citizen, is believed to have died by drowning.
According to the Dominican Republic Public Ministry, she was last seen on security cameras at the beach around 4:15 a.m. on Thursday, March 6.
Officials said Konanki’s friends, who she was with when she disappeared, have been questioned and have not been charged with anything as of Monday, March 10.
Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP-FM that his daughter wanted to “have a nice break with her friends in Punta Cana — she came with her friends on March 3rd.”
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