The authorities have been looking by land, air and sea for a College of Pittsburgh pupil who disappeared final week whereas on spring break in the in style Dominican Republic resort of Punta Cana.
The Nationwide Police stated in a press release on Sunday that the pupil, Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was final seen early Thursday when she went to the seashore by the Resort Riu Republica with an unnamed good friend who has been “beneath investigation.”
Ms. Konanki, a resident of Loudoun County, Va., had been staying at the resort with 5 mates after arriving in the Dominican Republic on March 3, the police stated.
When the United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic alerted the nationwide police on Friday morning that Ms. Konanki had disappeared, officers started an exhaustive search of the seashore and the surrounding space, utilizing drones, helicopters, divers, boats, police canines and different sources, the authorities stated.
Investigators have established that Ms. Konanki disappeared someday after 4:15 a.m. on Thursday, when she and different younger folks she was with had been seen on surveillance video a number of meters from the seashore entrance, the police stated.
Investigators had been interviewing the individuals who had been along with her to assist information the search, the police stated.
Investigators additionally carried out a preliminary interview with a younger man who had been in the water and had been making an attempt to corroborate his account, the police stated. The assertion didn’t element what the younger man had instructed investigators.
The Dominican president, Luis Abinader, stated at a information convention on Monday that the authorities had been finishing up a particular operation at sea “as a result of the newest info we now have from the final one who was with the younger lady — in response to experiences — is that whereas they had been on the seashore, a wave crashed into them and precipitated some form of scenario.”
“We’re investigating to make clear precisely what occurred,” Mr. Abinader instructed reporters, including: “What’s being investigated is an accident, mainly.”
WTOP, a Washington-area information station, reported on Monday that Ms. Konanki’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, had traveled to the Dominican Republic and filed a grievance on Sunday, asking the authorities to broaden the investigation past the risk of an unintentional drowning.
The grievance said that Ms. Konanki’s belongings, together with her telephone and pockets, had been left along with her mates, “which is uncommon as a result of she at all times carried her telephone along with her,” WTOP reported.
“It’s 4 days, and if she was in water, she would seemingly have been strewn to shore,” Mr. Subbarayudu instructed the station. “She’s not discovered, so we’re asking them to analyze a number of choices, like kidnapping or abduction.”
The Loudoun County sheriff, Mike Chapman, stated he was serving to U.S. officers who had been working with the Dominican Nationwide Police on the search.
He instructed NewsNation that it was “method too untimely” to imagine that Ms. Konanki had drowned and stated that there have been “inconsistencies” in a few of the accounts given by the younger individuals who had been with Ms. Konanki.
On Tuesday, Thomas Julia, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace, stated that the Dominican authorities have been interviewing plenty of younger individuals who had been on the seashore, together with two American males.
He stated there had been a “red-flag” warning for tough surf on the seashore round the time that Ms. Konanki was final seen.
The case was “nonetheless being handled as a lacking particular person,” Mr. Julia stated in an interview. “It isn’t being handled as a felony investigation as a result of there isn’t any proof of against the law.”
He stated that investigators had been making an attempt to find out who was final with Ms. Konanki and what might have occurred to her. “No person can vouch for what precisely occurred to her,” Mr. Julia stated, including that a few of the folks on the seashore had been intoxicated.
Riu Inns and Resorts stated it was “deeply involved” about the disappearance of one in every of its company.
“From the second her absence was reported, we now have been working intently with the native authorities, together with the police and the navy, to conduct a radical search,” it stated in a press release. It added: “The protection and well-being of our company are our highest precedence, and we’re absolutely dedicated to doing all the things in our energy to help in this case.”
The Dominican Republic relies upon closely on overseas tourism, and Punta Cana, identified for its white sand seashores, golf programs and all-inclusive resorts, is the nation’s hottest vacation spot.
About eight million passengers journey by Punta Cana Worldwide Airport every year, making it the busiest airport in the Dominican Republic and the second busiest in the Caribbean, in response to its web site.
Mr. Abinader, the Dominican president, stated the nation receives greater than 11 million guests per 12 months and takes delight in its repute as a protected place for vacationers. “We’re one in every of the most secure international locations, not simply in Latin America, however in the world,” he stated.
Hogla Enecia Pérez contributed reporting.
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