The father of a 20-year-old college student who has been missing in the Dominican Republic since Thursday is urging authorities to broaden their search efforts. Subbarayudu Konanki, speaking to WTOP-FM, expressed the need for authorities to move away from the assumption that his daughter, Sudiksha Konanki, drowned and to consider other possibilities such as kidnapping or abduction.
Konanki and his wife traveled to the Dominican Republic after learning that their daughter was missing. Sudiksha, a University of Pittsburgh student, had gone on a spring break trip to the island with five friends a week prior. She was last seen early Thursday on the beach with her friends. Surveillance footage captured five women and one man leaving the beach around 6 a.m., with Konanki staying behind with the man. Hours later, the man was seen leaving the beach area alone.
A massive search operation is ongoing in the Dominican Republic for the missing student. Local news outlets reported that the man who was with Konanki claimed they went into the water together, but he later fell asleep on a lounge chair and awoke to find her gone. Konanki’s clothes were found on a beach chair with no signs of violence. The man provided varying accounts to police, suggesting that she may have been swept away by a wave or left the area on her own.
The Konanki family, residing in Loudoun County, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., is working closely with law enforcement agencies including the State Department, FBI, and Interpol to aid in the investigation. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has filed for a Yellow Notice, a global police alert for missing persons, to assist in locating Sudiksha Konanki. Authorities stress the importance of conducting a thorough investigation before drawing any conclusions.
They appear; father requests a more extensive search.
