A 20-year-old Pittsburgh student, Sudiksha Konanki, has gone missing while on spring break in the Dominican Republic. Authorities believe she may have been pulled out to sea by a strong wave.
Sudiksha was last seen walking on a beach in Punta Cana early in the morning on March 6. She was on vacation with her friends when she decided to attend a party at the resort. Her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, shared that Sudiksha was an ambitious young woman who planned to pursue a career in medicine.
According to reports, she was last spotted around 4:50 AM with a male friend near the water. While her friends returned to the resort, Sudiksha did not. Authorities fear she may have been swept into the ocean while swimming. Search teams, including helicopters and rescue units, have been searching the waters and surrounding areas like the bay, bushes, and trees but have found no signs of her yet.
Her father has urged authorities to consider other possibilities, such as kidnapping or human trafficking, instead of focusing only on the water. He expressed concerns that if she had been in the ocean, she likely wouldn’t have survived for more than three days.
The police have questioned the man she was last seen with. A recent photo taken before she disappeared shows Sudiksha smiling, wearing the same brown bikini top she had on when she vanished. She is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. She was also wearing large round earrings, a metal anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right hand, and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left hand.
Pittsburgh University, where Sudiksha was a student, has been in contact with her family. University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer stated that they are working closely with authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, to support the search efforts and bring her home safely.
Officials are urging anyone with information about Sudiksha’s disappearance to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
