Does viral video show Sudiksha Konanki drowning in Dominican Republic ocean? Here's the truth
A viral video showing a woman being pulled into the ocean by surging waves is being circulated with the claim that it shows Sudiksha Konanki drowning.
A viral video on social media is being circulated with the claim that it shows the moment University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki drowned. The clip shows a woman being pulled into the ocean by surging waves. In the video, a man and a woman can be seen in knee-deep water before crashing waves knock them over, and then carry the woman out of sight as the man tries to rescue her.
Konanki, 20, an Indian-origin woman, vanished while on a spring break holiday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. She was last seen at the Riu Republica Resort beach on March 6 around 4:50 am.
Does the viral video show Sudiksha Konanki drowning?
The clip appears to depict the kind of scenario Joshua Riibe, the person last seen with Konanki, described when he was previously interrogated by authorities. However, he had claimed he saved Konanki from drowning and soon passed out after ingesting salt water.
The video is being circulated with a false narrative. AFP found after reverse image searches that the video is months-old, and shows a different man and woman in Sochi, Russia. The outlet reported that according to Russian media outlets, the woman was swept away on June 16, 2024, at Riviera Beach in the resort city along the Black Sea. Her body was found days later.
The outlet further noted how photos on Google Maps and Russia's Yandex Maps show a matching coastline at Riviera Beach. The Dominican Republic beach where Konanki disappeared looks very different in photos.
A June 2024 article by the US Sun identified the woman in the video as aspiring model Diana Belyaeva, 20. The man seen in the video was identified as her boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Dominican Republic authorities recently allowed Riibe to leave, following which he returned to his home in Iowa. He was released after Konanki’s parents asked Dominican authorities to let him go, and urged them to declare their daughter legally dead. The grieving parents said they were convinced that their daughter had drowned, even though her body has not been found yet.
“Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides of the authorities have clarified the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning,” Subbarayudu Konanki, the missing woman’s father, reportedly said.
“It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned,” he added. “This is incredibly difficult for us to process.”
