A massive search is underway for a University of Pittsburgh student who vanished during a Spring break trip to a resort in the Dominican Republic.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 at 4.50am on the beach at Riu Republica Resort. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Konanki, from Ashburn, Virginia, was reported missing Thursday while traveling with a group in Punta Cana, authorities told 13 News Now.
The young student is said to have vanished while ‘walking on the beach,’ local officials said.
‘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 search and rescue team based in the Dominican Republic, set out to look for her Saturday evening, but around 8pm the crew called off the search for the day.
‘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 said on social media. The search continued at 5am Sunday.
A missing persons poster shared online described her as 5’3″, with black hair and brown eyes.
She was last seen wearing a two-piece 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 poster said.
Jared Stonesifer, a spokesperson for the University of Pittsburgh, told the outlet the school has been in contact with Konanki’s family as well as local officials.
‘We have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,’ Stonesifer said.
‘Anyone with information is urged to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.’
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.