A DESPERATE search is underway for a 20-year-old student who vanished on a spring break vacation in the Caribbean, amid fears of foul play.
Sudiksha Konanki was last seen walking in her bikini along a Dominican Republic beach in the early hours of Thursday, and reported missing later that day.
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The student, from Chantilly, Virginia, disappeared near the town of Punta Cane, which she was visiting with five University of Pittsburgh classmates.
Nobody has seen of heard from Sudiksha since that night, and investigators are considering all explanations.
Officials from Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said they took a call about Sudiksha’s disappearance, but the investigation is being led by other forces.
A spokesperson told 13 News Now: “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.”
Thomas Julia, from the office, said: “We don’t know if there’s any foul play or if she accidently went missing.
“This is primarily being handled on the ground in the Dominican Republic.”
Julia added that the Indian embassy in the Dominican Republic have “taken the lead on the ground”.
Sudiksha was last seen around 4:50 am on the beach at the Riu Republica Resort, WTAE reported.
A missing persons poster describes her as 5ft 3in, with black hair and brown eyes.
She was wearing a brown bikini, large hoop earrings and a metal anklet on her right leg when she vanished.
Her other jewellery included steel bracelets on her right hand and a multicoloured beaded band on her left.
A Dominican Republic search and rescue force, Defensa Civil, started scouring the area on Saturday.
The group said on social media: “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.”
The search resumed at 5am on Sunday.
University of Pittsburgh officials said they were working the missing woman’s family and authorities in Virginia as fear for Sudiksha’s safety grows.
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Spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said: “University officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konanki’s family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia.
“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.”
Sudiksha went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, before starting at Pittsburgh.
Other guests at the resort where the friends were staying have shared their shoddy experiences of the place.
Some reported that no water was coming from the shower and sink faucets, and another said there was no Wi-Fi when they visited.
One traveller said people were forced to sit and charge their phones in the lobby.
And a group of women were seen sitting in darkness at the resort as they ate a meal they had to “scavenge together”.
Somebody else said: “They have one restaurant to feed a couple thousand people.”
