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A massive search is underway for a University of Pittsburgh student who vanished during a Spring Break trip to a resort in the Dominican Republic.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 at 4.50am on the beach at Riu Republica Resort. She has not been seen or heard from since traveling there with five other university students, police said.
News of her disappearance comes as other vacationers staying at the same resort took to social media to share their horrid experience – as the hotel currently has no power, running water, or food.
Konanki, from Chantilly, Virginia, was reported missing Thursday while traveling with a group in Punta Cana, authorities told 13 News Now.
The young student is said to have vanished while walking on the beach wearing a bikini, local officials said. She’s been described as 5’3″, with black hair and brown eyes, according to a missing persons poster.
She was last seen wearing a two-piece bikini, large round earrings, a metal designer anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right wrist and multi-colored bracelets on her left, the poster detailed.
A recent image of her showed her matching that description.
Investigators are not ruling out foul play, as Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Julia said: ‘We don’t know if there’s any foul play or if she accidently went missing.
‘This is primarily being handled on the ground in the Dominican Republic,’ she said, adding that the embassy of India in the Dominican Republic have also ‘taken the lead on the ground,’ Wtop News reported.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 at 4.50am on the beach at Riu Republica Resort. She has not been seen or heard from since. (Pictured: Image of her matching her last known description)
Defensa Civil, a search and rescue team based in the Dominican Republic, set out to look for her Saturday evening, but around 8pm the crew called off the search for the day. (Pictured: The search and rescue team)
‘Our office was contacted on Thursday evening about a missing female from Loudoun County who was with a group of other people traveling in the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana specifically,’ a spokesperson from Virginia‘s Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said on Saturday.
Defensa Civil, a search and rescue team based in the Dominican Republic, set out to look for her Saturday evening, but around 8pm the crew called off the search for the day.
‘The Orange Search and Rescue Unit, along with other institutions, worked from early Saturday hours, trying to find the whereabouts of the young woman, Sudiksha Konanki, without success,’ Defensa Civil said on social media.
The search continued at 5am Sunday.
Jared Stonesifer, a spokesperson for the University of Pittsburgh, told the outlet the school has been in contact with Konanki’s family as well as local officials.
News of her disappearance came as other vacationers took to social media to share the horrid experience they’re having at the same resort (pictured) due to no power or water
‘We have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,’ Stonesifer said.
‘Anyone with information is urged to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.’
Konaki is expected to graduate from the university in 2026, according to her LinkedIn profile. It is unclear what her major is.
Prior to college, she attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.
Several other resort resident recorded their experiences at the resort, with many seen turning shower and sink faucets with no water coming out.
Another user said Wi-Fi was also down, noting that ‘people are in the lobby charging their phones.’
Some tourists even had to charge their devices and use fans behind the receptionist desk at the resort, another person shared online.
Meanwhile, a group of women staying at the resort were seen sitting in the dark as they ate a meal that they managed to ‘scavenge together.’
‘They have one restaurant to feed a couple thousand people,’ another said.
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