Family of Sudiksha Konanki believes she 'drowned': Sheriff

The family of missing college student Sudiksha Konanki has asked authorities to declare the 20-year-old dead, according to U.S. officials.

"Sudiksha’s family has expressed their belief that she drowned," Loudon County Sheriff Michael Chapman said in a statement Tuesday. "While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every way possible."

Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, disappeared from a beach in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, and her disappearance is being investigated by local authorities and by authorities from her hometown in Loudoun County, Va.

What happened to Sudiksha Konanki?

Konanki was last seen at the Riu República Hotel, just north of Punta Cana in the La Altagracia district, around 4 a.m. local time on March 6. She was one of six female University of Pittsburgh students who traveled together for spring break on March 3.

Police said Konanki disappeared after she and other guests went outside amid a power outage. The group was accompanied by two American men. The now-missing student stayed on the beach with one of the men while the rest of the group returned to the hotel.

Dominican police say they’ve been reinterviewing people who were with Konanki before she went missing. Investigators have been using drones, helicopters and detection dogs to search waters off the island’s east coast.

Despite the extensive search, her body has not been found. The public prosecutor’s office said Konanki’s friends have been interviewed.

Video shows Konanki at outdoor bar

Video footage was released on Monday that appears to be Konanki with a man who has been under the attention of authorities at an outdoor bar before she disappeared.

The videos were published by local media outlet Noticia SIN and appear to show Konanki and her friends at a resort bar near a man who resembles Joshua Riibbe.

Local authorities initially said they believed Konanki drowned, but have not ruled out the possibility of foul play in her disappearance.

Local police previously said Riibe is not a suspect, although the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office believes he may have been the last person to see Konanki before she disappeared. Authorities in the Dominican Republic later pulled Riibe’s passport, and he is not allowed to leave the country.

Riibe told authorities he pulled Konanki out of rough water in the ocean. He said he vomited seawater up after the incident and felt sick before falling asleep on a beach chair. He added that he believed Konanki left the beach before he passed out and woke up some time later.

Four tourists drowned at the same beach nearly two months prior to Konanki’s disappearance. The night she disappeared, there were rough seas and high waves, authorities said.

NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali and Alex Caprariello contributed to this report.

Topics

Parents of Student Missing in the Dominican Republic Believe She Drowned

The student, Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was on a spring break trip to Punta Cana when she disappeared earlier this month, leading to a massive search effort and an investigation.
The New York Times - 34m
Family of missing Pitt student requests authorities declare her dead

The family of Sudiksha Konanki has requested that she be declared deceased, the Loudoun County sheriff's office in Virginia tells CBS News. Konanki disappeared in the Dominican Republic earlier ...
CBS News - 8h
Parents of missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki ask Dominican Republic police to declare her dead

The family of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki has asked police in the Dominican Republic to declare her dead, a police spokesman said Monday.
NBC News - 20h
Family of missing college student asks police that she be declared dead

Missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki disappeared in the Dominican Republic resort town of Punta Cana almost two weeks ago.
CBS News - 6h
Dominican Republic investigating Sudiksha Konanki's disappearance as an accident

The Dominican Republic is investigating the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki as an accident, according to the country's president. CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez reports.
CBS News - Mar. 11
Search expands for American college student who vanished in the Dominican Republic

Officials say their investigation into the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki is considering the possibility of drowning and foul play. The 20-year-old went missing ...
CBS News - 4d
FBI joins search for missing U.S. college student in the Dominican Republic

Authorities in the Dominican Republic are expanding their search for 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, last seen on a beach early Thursday morning. The FBI is now assisting, and police are ...
CBS News - Mar. 11
Education Department firings and the search for student Sudiksha Konanki: Morning Rundown

The Education Department is taking its first step toward a shutdown.
NBC News - 6d
Witness says missing Pitt student rescued from powerful wave — then vanished

A man who might've been the last person to see Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing last week while on spring break in the Dominican Republic, said he rescued her ...
NBC News - 4d
FBI involved in search for missing Pitt student in Dominican Republic

20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, the University of Pittsburgh student missing in the Dominican Republic, was last seen early Thursday on a beach near the resort where she was staying for spring break. ...
CBS News - Mar. 11
New surveillance video shows missing Pitt student before disappearance in Dominican Republic

Newly unveiled surveillance video shows missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in the moments before she disappeared while on spring break with friends in the Dominican Republic. ...
CBS News - 6d
What the last person to see missing Pitt student told the prosecutor

The man who last saw missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki told investigators he thought she was OK and had "taken her things and left."
ABC News - 4d
New details on last interaction U.S. college student had before disappearing in Punta Cana

Joshua Riibe was the last person seen with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki before she went missing while in the Dominican Republic. His attorney said his passport has been ...
CBS News - 1d
Video shows last movements of U.S. college student before vanishing while in Dominican Republic

Surveillance video appears to show the final moments before Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student, vanished last week. She was walking with three women and two men ...
CBS News - 6d
New details emerge in US college student's spring break disappearance

Missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki's clothes have been found on a beach in the Dominican Republic.
ABC News - Mar. 11
Person of interest identified by U.S. investigators in search for missing Pittsburgh student

A person of interest has been identified in the weeklong search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, according to U.S. authorities.
NBC News - 6d
'I can't believe I had to prove I'm British'

Christina, 27, and her family had to battle for years to stay in the UK.
BBC News - 5d
Calls to medical clinic show Gene Hackman's wife was alive longer than previously believed

Cellphone records indicate Betsy Arakawa, wife of actor Gene Hackman, was alive a day after her estimated time of death, a New Mexico sheriff's official said Monday.
NBC News - 23h
Officials looking into if missing Pitt student drowned

Officials are looking into whether a U.S. college student who went missing in the Dominican Republic drowned. Manuel Bojorquez has the latest.
CBS News - 1d
En Vogue singer reveals she’s been living in her car for years

Dawn Robinson, of the R&B group that sold more than 20m albums, moved in during the pandemic after a family fallout. Dawn Robinson, a founding member of the widely popular R&B girl group En ...
The Guardian - 5d
FBI joins Dominican Republic search for missing University of Pittsburgh student, police say

The FBI has joined the Dominican Republic’s police in searching for Sudiksha Konanki, the University of Pittsburgh student who went missing a week ago while on spring break. Konanki, 20, vanished ...
The Hill - Mar. 11
Search continues for college student who vanished during spring break in Dominican Republic

The search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who vanished last week while on a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic.
NBC News - Mar. 10
Search intensifies for missing Pitt spring breaker. Here's what we know.

Authorities are searching in the tourist town of Punta Cana for any signs of 20-year-old Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared while on spring break.
CBS News - Mar. 10
Latest clues in the search for U.S. student who vanished in Punta Cana

Here are the latest updates on what's known about Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
CBS News - 6h
LSU’s Kim Mulkey allows assistant to coach SEC tourney game while she grieves death in family

LSU did not say whether Mulkey or Bob Starkey will coach the Tigers in Saturday’s semifinal against No. 1 Texas.
Yahoo Sports - Mar. 8
Search continues for Pitt student who went missing in Dominican Republic

Authorities in the Dominican Republic are searching for a University of Pittsburgh student, 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing last week while on spring break. CBS News Pittsburgh ...
CBS News - Mar. 10
"Person of interest" named in case of missing student in Dominican Republic

24-year-old Joshua Riibe has been named a "person of interest" in the missing person case of Sudiksha Konanki who disappeared in Punta Cana last week.
CBS News - 6d
What to know about the search for the missing University of Pittsburgh student

Investigators are still searching for Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing on a spring break trip with her college friends in the Dominican Republic last week.
NBC News - 4d
New details in investigation into missing Pitt student

We're learning more about the investigation into missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared while on spring break in the Dominican Republic 11 days ago. CBS News ...
CBS News - 1d
Israeli strikes kill hundreds in Gaza and NASA astronauts return to Earth: Morning Rundown

Donald Trump, Alien Enemies Act, Israel, Gaza Strip, Hamas, ceasefire deal, NASA splash down, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Sudiksha Konanki, Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman, Tesla
NBC News - 12h
Court to decide if American linked to missing Pitt student can leave Dominican Republic

A Dominican Republic court is expected to decide on Tuesday whether the last person thought to have seen missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki can leave the country.
NBC News - 6h
‘This woman destroyed my heart and soul’: After my wife died, her mother turned on me — and presented me with a secret will

“She flipped a switch and instantly my wife’s entire family hated me.”
MarketWatch - 2h
Man seen with missing Pitt student believes he's being detained illegally: Source

Lawyers for the Minnesota college student who was with a University of Pittsburgh student the night she went missing in Punta Cana have requested a habeas corpus hearing.
ABC News - 1d
Investigators weighing all options in search for missing American college student

The FBI is joining the search for a 20-year-old American college student who went missing in the Dominican Republic. Sudiksha Konanki was last seen on March 6 in a popular tourist area. CBS News ...
CBS News - 6d
Interpol issues global alert for missing Pitt student

Interpol has issued a global alert for University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki who went missing in the Dominican Republic more than a week ago. Police say they're now investigating all ...
CBS News - 4d
Changing US law keeps victims’ families – and people on death row – waiting decades for closure

Marcia Fulton has waited 37 years for David Wood to be executed for her daughter’s murder, but lawyers who believe he’s innocent keep filing appeals. Two months ago, Marcia Fulton received a knock ...
The Guardian - Mar. 10
Atlanta teacher's body found a month after he disappeared on a Georgia lake, sheriff says

The body of an Atlanta teacher and coach who vanished last month while boating on Georgia’s Lake Oconee has been recovered from waters not far from where his fiancee was found dead shortly after ...
NBC News - Mar. 10
Gene Hackman’s Wife Died at Least a Day Later Than Originally Thought

Betsy Arakawa made several calls to a medical clinic on Feb. 12, the day after the authorities initially believed that she died.
The New York Times - 16h
'I risked drowning to flee conscription by Congolese rebels'

Thousands of Congolese are opting make a dangerous river crossing to get to safety in Burundi.
BBC News - Mar. 5