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Disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki

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Sudiksha Konanki
Konanki's profile picture on LinkedIn
Born13 December 2004
India
DisappearedMarch 6, 2025 (aged 20)
Riu República hotel, Arena Gorda beach, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
StatusMissing for 1 month and 8 days
EducationUniversity of Pittsburgh
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Parents
  • Subbarayudu Konanki
  • Sreedevi Konanki [1]

Sudiksha Konanki[a] (born 2004 – disappeared March 6, 2025) is a 20-year-old Indian American pre-medical student at University of Pittsburgh who went missing on March 6, 2025.[2] On spring break with a few of her friends at a RIU REPUBLICA Hotel in Punta Cana, she was reported to have last been seen with an American on the beach, who has since returned to the U.S., before her disappearance.[3]

Background

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Konanki was born on 13 December 2004 to parents Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki and was a permanent U.S. resident since 2006. She lived in South Riding,[4] Virginia, and studied at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She attended the University of Pittsburgh and studied Biology and Chemistry with the goal of pursuing a career in medicine.[5][6][7]

Disappearance

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On Monday, March 3, 2025, Konanki and five fellow students traveled to the Dominican Republic for spring break, staying at the Riu República hotel.[7] On March 6, at around 3:00 a.m., Konanki was seen drinking with a group of five women aged 20–22 and two men aged 22 at the hotel bar.[8][9] Surveillance footage captured the group heading to the beach at 4:15 a.m. with Konanki seen walking arm in arm with Joshua Steven Riibe (/ˈriːbə/), a 22-year-old college student from Iowa. While the others departed at around 5:00 a.m., Konanki remained with Riibe.[9][10] According to Riibe, a wave swept them out to sea, and he attempted to rescue Konanki. He claimed to have last seen her walking in knee-deep water. After asking Konanki if she was okay, Riibe vomited seawater he had swallowed and was unable to hear her response. Following this, Riibe did not see Konanki and assumed she had left. He then fell asleep on a beach chair.[11][12] Surveillance footage shows Riibe leaving the beach at 8:55 a.m.[13]

Aftermath

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On March 18, 2025, Konanki's parents requested the authorities to declare their daughter legally dead.[14] However, this request cannot legally proceed since the Civil Code of the Dominican Republic, in provisions contained between articles 112 and 140, stipulates that after 4 years of disappearance, a state of "legal absence" can be requested, which can only be approved 1 year after being requested; the presence of the corpse before a forensic doctor is essential in order to declare a person as deceased.[15][16][17]

Riibe, who remained detained for over a week at the Riu República hotel after his passport was confiscated by local authorities when he attempted to check out, was interrogated several times by local Dominican attorneys investigating the case, along with Dominican Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso.[18][19] His lawyers submitted a writ of habeas corpus on March 18 and Riibe was released after the court hearing. Riibe then received an emergency passport the next day at the Bávaro U.S. Consolate and left the island immediately, as did his friend Carter Johnson, 22.[20]

A video purporting to show Konanki drowning in the ocean while a man tries to save her widely circulated on social media. It was debunked by Agence France-Presse, who determined that it was actually taken at the Riviera Beach in Sochi, Russia, and that it depicted a different man and woman.[21]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ English pronunciation: /suːˈdɪkʃə koʊˈnɑːŋki/ soo-DIK-shə koh-NAHNG-ki; Telugu pronunciation: [suː'tʰiːkʰʂaː 'kʰoːnankiː]

References

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  1. ^ "Joshua Riibe, the last person seen with Sudiksha Konanki leaves the Dominican Republic". Times of India. March 20, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  2. ^ "American linked to missing student spotted on beach with investigators in Punta Cana". NBC News. Archived from the original on March 16, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  3. ^ "What to know about the search for the missing University of Pittsburgh student". NBC News. March 14, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  4. ^ Augenstein, Neal (March 19, 2025). "Last person seen with missing college student no longer person of interest: Loudoun Co. sheriff's office". WTOP News. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  5. ^ Cohen, Rebecca (March 14, 2025). "What to know about the search for the missing Pitt student". NBC News. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  6. ^ "What to know about US student Sudiksha Konanki, who vanished in Dominican Republic on spring break". AP News. March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Looker, Rachel (March 18, 2025). "Missing American Sudiksha Konanki's family asks she be declared dead". BBC. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  8. ^ "La joven desaparecida Sudiksha Konanki compartía con cinco amigas y dos hombres en la playa donde fue vista por última vez" (in Spanish). Noticias S.I.N. March 9, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "The last known hours of Sudiksha Konanki: A timeline of events". CNN. March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  10. ^ "Missing student Sudiksha Konanki vanished in Punta Cana on spring break. Here's what we know about the case". CBS News. March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  11. ^ "Last person seen with missing US student Sudiksha Konanki seeks freedom in Dominican Republic court". CNN. March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  12. ^ "Interpol: సుదీక్ష కోణంకి ఆచూకీపై ఇంటర్‌పోల్‌ నోటీసులు" [Interpol: Interpol notices on the whereabouts of Sudiksha Konanki]. Eenadu (in Telugu). March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  13. ^ Sottile, Zoe; Romo, Rafael; Hasbun, Jessica; Miller, John (March 14, 2025). "What to know about the search for the missing Pitt student". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  14. ^ Adames Alcántara, Martín (March 18, 2025). "The parents of a US student who vanished in the Dominican Republic ask that she be declared dead". Associated Press. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  15. ^ Polanco, Deyanira (March 18, 2025). "Los obstáculos legales para declarar fallecida a Sudiksha Konanki" (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Listín Diario. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  16. ^ "Abogado dice solicitud de padres de Sudiksha Konanki no procede legalmente" (in Spanish). El Caribe. March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  17. ^ "Missing American Sudiksha Konanki's family asks she be declared dead". www.bbc.com. March 20, 2025.
  18. ^ "Sudiksha Konanki missing: Dominican AG grills key witness Joshua Riibe". Loudoun County: Fox 5 DC. March 16, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  19. ^ Durán, Florentino (March 17, 2025). "Fiscalía interroga este lunes a Joshua Steven Riibe, testigo de la desaparición de Sudiksha Konanki" (in Spanish). Higüey: Listín Diario. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  20. ^ "Missing American in Dominican Republic: Key witness Joshua Riibe leaves country". Punta Cana: Fox News. March 19, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  21. ^ Sen, Sumanti (March 25, 2025). "Does viral video show Sudiksha Konanki drowning in Dominican Republic ocean? Here's the truth". Hindustan Times. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
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