Pittsburgh college student’s disappearance in the Dominican Republic being treated as an accident, police say
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The disappearance and reported drowning of 20-year-old college student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic is being treated as an accident, according to a new report.
But her distraught father is pleading with authorities to consider other options, including abduction.
Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, disappeared on a Spring Break trip with five friends at a resort in Punta Cana. Investigators believe Konanki drowned early Thursday, law enforcement sources told ABC News over the weekend.
Since then, investigators have found her clothes on a bed near the beach where she was last seen, ABC News reported Tuesday. Following an initial investigation, her disappearance is currently being treated as an accident, police told ABC.
Police say Konanki, a permanent U.S. resident and Indian citizen, went to a nightclub on Wednesday night with her friends. Afterward, Konanki and a group of people went to the beach around 4 a.m. Konanki’s friends returned to their hotel room just before 6 a.m., ABC News reports, while Konanki stayed on the beach with a man.
That man told police he went for a swim with Konanki, who was swept up by a big wave, ABC News reported. After he returned to the beach, he threw up and went to sleep on a beach bed. When he awoke, he said Konanki was nowhere to be found.
He returned to his hotel room just before 9 a.m., surveillance footage shows.
Police have since interviewed him, and he is cooperating with the investigation, National Police spokesman Diego Pesqueira told ABC News. He is not a suspect in the case, said the chief of the Civil Defense in the Dominican Republic.
Investigators also interviewed Konanki’s friends, who were also not suspects as of Tuesday.
But Konanki’s father isn’t convinced she drowned. Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP he filed a complaint with police to widen the investigation.
“It’s four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,” he said. “She’s not found, so we’re asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.”
“While it is possible that Sudiksha drowned, there is a growing suspicion that there may be a crime, specifically the possibility of kidnapping,” his complaint states.
He previously told CNN his daughter had ambitions of becoming a doctor.
“My daughter is a very nice girl,” he said. “She’s ambitious. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine.”
The FBI, the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican National Police and the Dominican Prosecutor’s office are all investigating her disappearance.
