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Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old Indian-origin student from the University of Pittsburgh, has reportedly gone missing from a resort in the Dominican Republic, where she had gone with friends while on their spring break.
Search operations are ongoing to locate Konanki, who was last seen on March 6 on the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana.
In a social media post on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in the Dominican Republic said it was in touch with Konanki's parents and extending all assistance with locating the missing student.
Sudiksha’s father, Subbarayudu, confirmed to CNN that his daughter went to Punta Cana for spring break ahead of pre-med studies at Pittsburgh.
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.