Parents of Sudiksha Konanki ask Dominican Republic to declare missing Indian-origin student dead
Sudiksha Konanki, a resident of Loudoun County in Virginia, and five female friends had travelled to the Dominican Republic on March 3. The University of Pittsburgh student disappeared at a beach near her hotel before dawn on March 6.
Parents of Sudiksha Konanki, an Indian-origin student who has been missing for nearly two weeks now, have urged authorities in the Dominican Republic to declare the 20-year-old legally dead. Her parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, said they believed she had drowned, and declaring her dead would bring some closure.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Parents hope for closure
¡°Initiating this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence,¡± the parents said in a letter to Dominican police.
¡°While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honour her memory,¡± they added.
BREAKING: Parents of Sudiksha Konanki, American who disappeared while on spring break in the Dominican Republic, announce they believe she died in a tragic accident.
¡ª Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 18, 2025
"It is with deep sadness & heavy heart that we are coming to the terms of the fact that our daughter has¡ pic.twitter.com/1EB0ibJ6Ln
What happened to Sudiksha Konanki
Konanki, a resident of Loudoun County in Virginia, and five female friends had travelled to the Dominican Republic on March 3. The University of Pittsburgh student disappeared at a beach near her hotel before dawn on March 6.
Her clothes were later discovered on a beach nearby, and Joshua Steven Riibe, a 22-year-old American man who was last spotted with Konanki on the morning of March 6, was detained by local authorities.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Joshua Steven Riibe freed
According to the authorities, there is no criminal investigation against him.
Riibe reportedly told the police that he met Konanki the night before her disappearance. He said they were kissing in the sea when they were hit by a strong wave. Riibe said he was a former lifeguard and swam her to shore.
After making it out of the water, he said he later saw her walking on the beach before he vomited and fainted.
Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old who was last with 20-year-old student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing, said in court that he's "ready to go home and go back to my life."
¡ª ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) March 18, 2025
Riibe, who is not charged with a crime, said Konanki's family hugged him and thanked him. pic.twitter.com/HhitsnU3LL
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, DEA, and the Dominican Republic police and armed forces, have been involved in the search for Konanki, but except for her dress and footwear, which were recovered from the beach, they have failed to make any progress in finding her.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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