The Dominican Republic authorities, with the support of the Federal Research Bureau (FBI), continue the search for land, sea and air of the American student missing six days ago while spending their spring vacation in Punta Cana.
The student of the University of Pittsburgh Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared on the beach of the Riu República hotel in the early hours of March 6. In the broad operations to locate the young man’s whereabouts, authorities of India, a country of origin of the Konanki family, who have asked for support to find it have also been involved.
Almost a week after it was last seen, there are few concrete clues about what could have happened to him.
“Four days have passed, and if I had been in the water, it would probably have spread to the shore,” said his father, Subbarayudu Konanki on Monday, to the press. “They have not found it, so we ask them to investigate several options, such as a kidnapping or a rapture.”
The Dominican authorities used drones, helicopters and detector dogs to track the waters of the east coast of the island, where he was supposedly seen, according to Jensen Sánchez, spokesman for Civil Defense.
“The search continues in the sea because it is presumed to drown. According to the young man who accompanied her, the waves dragged her, but that is under police investigation, ”he added.
He pointed out that a body may take more than a week to emerge in warm waters.
When his family learned of the student’s disappearance, Subbarayudu Konanki and his wife, Sreedavo, flew to Punta Cana with two family friends. He and a family friend filed a complaint on Sunday, asking the authorities to expand the investigation.
The complaint indicates that the student’s belongings, including his phone and wallet, were left with his friends, “which is unusual because he always wore his phone with him.”
“In view of these circumstances, I respectfully request that the authorities take immediate measures to investigate not only the possibility of accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a kidnapping or a crime,” the family wrote.
Sudiksha Konanki, citizen of India, is a permanent resident of the United States and resides in Chantilly, Virginia, according to the Sheriff’s office of Loudoun County, which collaborates with federal officials and the University Police in the investigation of the Dominican National Police.
Officials of the University of Pittsburgh are in contact with the family and the authorities of Virginia, and have offered their support in the efforts to find the missing student and bring her home healthy and save, the university reported in a statement.
Konanki and five other university students traveled to the Dominican Republic on March 3, according to their father.
“I wanted to have a good vacation with her friends in Punta Cana,” he said.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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