Missing American Sudiksha Konanki’s family asks she be declared dead

The family of a missing University of Pittsburgh student has asked the Dominican Republic’s national police that she be declared dead.

Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared on spring break while in the Dominican Republic. She was last seen at a hotel in early March.

The Dominican Republic’s police confirmed to the BBC that they had received the request from Ms Konanki’s family, but did not provide additional details.

Police have been searching for her for the past two weeks. Investigators are considering whether she may have drowned, but have not ruled out foul play.

Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old US college student, is presumed to be the last person to see Ms Konanki alive. He has not been accused of a crime and the national police said there is no suspect in the disappearance.

Ms Konanki, 20, is enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, studying biology and chemistry.

The college junior travelled with a group of five female friends to a resort in Punta Cana on a spring break trip, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, which has aided in the case.

She is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the US. She lives with her family in Chantilly, Virginia – a suburb of Washington DC.

Ms Konanki was last seen by Mr Riibe at around 04:00 local time on 6 March. He is not considered a suspect and has not been accused of wrongdoing.

CCTV shows her and a group of friends walking towards the beach.

She was with five women, Mr Riibe and another American man in the video.

Ms Konanki stayed on the beach with Mr Riibe as the others returned to the hotel, Dominican police told the BBC’s news partner CBS.

Mr Riibe reportedly said he and Ms Konanki were pulled out to sea by a large wave in the early morning hours, and he struggled to pull them back to shore.

The student at St Cloud State University in Minnesota has said he believes Ms Konanki got out of the water, but she then seemed to vanish.

Mr Riibe’s parents released a statement saying they hoped Ms Konanki was “found as soon as possible”.

“We recognise that this is a complex and painful situation for all parties involved, and we trust that the investigation will be conducted with transparency and justice,” their statement read.

Mr Riibe was held in Dominican custody for over a week until a judge ruled on Tuesday that he should be freed.

His attorney said on Wednesday that his client had left the country, and that he had been issued a new passport after local authorities seized his previous one last week.

The college student had filed a petition to a court asking for his release. He alleged that prosecutors, police and the hotel he stayed at had violated his rights by detaining him without charges.

“I really want to go home and see my family,” Mr Riibe reportedly said in court. “I understand I’m here to help but it’s been 10 days.”

Lawyers for the government have said that he is a “witness” and “has never been accused”.

Mr Riibe said that he has met with Ms Konanki’s mother, according to CBS News. He said that she hugged and thanked him for saving her daughter after the first wave crashed.

The Dominican Republic’s national police told the BBC that they had received a request from Ms Konanki’s family to declare her dead.

Officials have said that they have spent dozens of hours looking for the missing student.

Police are dividing search areas and assigning drones to certain sectors.

Pilots are monitoring footage that is being uploaded to a command centre where AI is looking to identify objects in the ocean.

Search crews are looking in water and on land.

Authorities say it’s not clear whether foul play was involved in Ms Konanki’s disappearance.

There was no blood or signs of violence found at the beach.

The University of Pittsburgh, where Ms Konanki is a student, said in a statement they were working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security and local authorities in response to her disappearance.

The International Criminal Police Organization, known as Interpol, issued a global alert after Ms Konanki went missing.

The yellow notice is for missing persons such as victims of kidnappings or “unexplained disappearances”.