Authorities in the Dominican Republic are searching for 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared while “walking on the beach” during a spring break trip in Punta Cana. She was “last seen wearing a brown bikini” before vanishing on the Caribbean island.
Konanki, a resident of Ashburn, Virginia, was reported missing on Thursday while visiting a resort town with a group, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told 13 News Now.
Konanki was last seen at 4.50 am on March 6 at the Riu Republica Resort beach. There has been no contact or sighting since then. A missing persons notice describes her as 5 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes.
According to the poster, she was last seen wearing a two-piece brown bikini, large round earrings, a metal designer anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right wrist, and multi-colored bracelets on her left, the New York Post reported.
Reports of her disappearance coincide with complaints from other guests at the same resort, who have taken to social media to describe dire conditions, including a lack of electricity, running water, and food services.
“Our office was contacted on Thursday evening about a missing female from Loudoun County who was with a group of other people traveling in the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana specifically,” a spokesperson from Virginia’s Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said on Saturday.
Defensa Civil, a Dominican Republic-based search and rescue organisation, initiated a search on Saturday evening but suspended operations around 8pm.
“The Orange Search and Rescue Unit, along with other institutions, worked from early Saturday hours, trying to find the whereabouts of the young woman, Sudiksha Konanki, without success,” Defensa Civil wrote on social media on Saturday night.
Jared Stonesifer, speaking for the University of Pittsburgh, told 13newsnow: “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.”
“Anyone with information is urged to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office,” Jared added.
