E-Paper
‘She wanted to pursue a career in medicine,' Missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki's distressed father speaks out
Sudiksha Konanki's father has spoken out after the Indian-origin woman went missing while on a spring break holiday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
The father of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki has spoken out after the Indian-origin woman went missing while on a spring break holiday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The 20-year-old was last seen at the Riu Republica Resort beach on March 6 around 4:50 am.
‘She wanted to pursue a career in medicine’
Sudiksha’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, confirmed to CNN that his daughter went to Punta Cana for spring break ahead of pre-med studies at Pittsburgh. “My daughter is a very nice girl. She’s ambitious. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine,” he said.
Subbarayudu said that before she went missing, Sudiksha had told her friends that she was heading to a party at the resort. “She went to the beach on March 6 early morning around 4 a.m. with friends and some other guys they met at the resort. After that, her friends came back after some time and my daughter did not come back, did not show up from the beach,” the father said.
When Sudiksha’s friends did not find her in her room the next morning, they contacted the cops. A land and sea search was subsequently launched.
“So far, the authorities, multiple authorities here in the Dominican Republic have searched in the waters. They searched using helicopters and other tools. They also searched in the near bay, bushes, trees. They went multiple times around the same areas,” said Subbarayudu.
The Dominican Civil Defense, local firefighters, the Dominican Navy, the National Police, and Politur, the country's tourist police, are participating in the search, The Mirror reported. The Indian embassy is also working with officials from Loudoun County, Virginia, and multiple Dominican Republic agencies.
Sudiksha was staying at the Riu República hotel before she disappeared. The hotel chain said in a statement to Dominican Today that they have been “working closely with local authorities, including the Police and Navy” to help “carry out a thorough search."
