Investigators are searching for University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Conanki, who went missing on a spring break trip with a college friend in the Dominican Republic last week.
As the investigation approaches its second week, several international organizations have been searching for Conanki since it disappeared on March 6th.
This is what we know about the incident.
Who is Sudiksha Konanki?
Conanki, 20, is a junior in biology at the University of Pittsburgh, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia. She is an Indian citizen and a permanent resident of the United States and lives with her family in Chantilly, Virginia, in Loudoun County.
She traveled from Pitt to Punta Cana on March 3, with five female friends for spring break, the sheriff’s office said.
According to the group’s Instagram account, Conanki is in a South Asian fusion at university.
When was Conanki the last time you saw it?
Conanki was last seen on the beginning of March 6th after going to the beach with a friend.
She disappeared after 4:15am after her friend left the beach, but fell behind with people she met on the trip.
The security video shows Conanki and her friends entering the beach area of the RIU Republica resort.
Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman told NBC Washington on Monday that Conanki’s friend returned to the hotel about 40 minutes later, and that Conanki was not a college friend with the others she met.
One of the last people who came into contact with her said, “Waves hit while they were on the beach, causing some kind of situation,” Dominican President Louis Abinader quoted a local report at a press conference Monday. Abinader said at the time that authorities were trying to piece together what happened.
Conanki’s friends went on an excursion on Thursday and didn’t realize she had disappeared until she returned about 12 hours later.
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office was subsequently notified of her loss, Chapman said.
National Police launched a search effort Friday morning using drones, helicopters, divers, boats and dog units. Search efforts were expanded on Monday.
Conanki’s friends were due to return to the US on Friday but returned to help with the search, said Thomas Julia, a sheriff’s spokesman.
The hotel said beach access was always open and security guards were stationed around the hotel and area.
What do you know about the research?
Several agencies are involved in the investigation and are led by contact information from the Dominican police, the Dominican Attorney General’s Office, the FBI and the US Embassy. The US Coast Guard is also involved.
The University of Pittsburgh said it was in contact with Conanki’s family and providing support in the investigation. The Indian Embassy in the Dominican Republic is also supporting the investigation, Chapman said.
Conanki’s family traveled to Punta Cana to support their search efforts, but returned to Virginia. They declined to comment on the search.
Local Dominican Emergency Business Administration, La Altagracia Civil Defense, shared photos of multiple agencies searching for beaches over the weekend. The hotel also said it was supporting the search efforts.
Authorities say it is not clear whether Conanki’s loss of failure was accidental or whether foul plays were involved. No blood or signs of violence were found on the beach, Pesqueira said.
National police dispatched teams to monitor the beach at least overnight, watching how the water moves to see where the body drifts if someone owns, and see where the waves crashed.
A hotel spokesperson said the red flag, indicating that “there was a strong current and very high waves in the ocean.”
Dominican authorities said the search was moving from the RIU Republic Resort to Macau Beach Thursday morning.
Loudoun County Sheriff Chapman said authorities are also considering Conanki’s phone calls and texts. He said she doesn’t seem to have a history of excessive drinking.
The Sheriff’s Office said Interpol submitted it to issue a yellow notice.
“We estimate that she is still alive,” Chapman said Monday. “We want to make sure we are tired of the leads as much as we can.
Have you identified someone you’re interested in?
Julia, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, told NBC News that people of interest were identified and interviewed at length. The sheriff’s office has no jurisdiction over the case, but sent detectives to the island to assist local investigators.
Those interested “are not the same as the suspect. This is not a crime matter, so it’s for those who are still missing,” Julia said.
National Police said Thursday morning that they had not used the term “interested person” in their investigation and that no one was considered a suspect at this point.
The man, Joshua Libe, spoke to the local government on Thursday, a sheriff’s spokesperson told NBC News on Friday.
Libe may have been the last person to see Conanki alive. According to a transcript of an interview obtained by NBC News, he told local investigators “he was talking a little and kissing in the deep-boobed water.”
The waves then crashed and they cleaned them by “going out to the sea,” Libe said in an interview.
“I kept trying to make her breath, but it didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he said. He told local authorities that he once worked as a lifeguard and that he made sure he would return both to the coast.
That was when she disappeared, he said.
“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her answer,” he said. “I looked around and saw no one. I thought she grabbed hers and left.”
According to the interview, Riibe said he was surprised to find out later that Conanki was missing.
