Why The Parents Of Missing Indian Student Sudiksha Konanki Want Her Declared Dead – What We Know So Far News24 –

The parents of missing 20-year-old Indian student Sudiksha Konanki have requested authorities in the Dominican Republic to legally declare her dead, according to Fox9. They stated that officials have found no evidence of foul play in their daughter’s disappearance, leading them to accept that she likely drowned.20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town. US federal law enforcement agencies have been working with authorities in the Caribbean country while investigating her disappearance. Despite an extensive search, her body has not been found.

What We Know So Far

Surveillance footage shows Sudiksha Konanki heading to the beach with a group shortly after 4 a.m. However, most of them left before 6 a.m., as seen in the video. Joshua Riibe, a student at St. Cloud State University, is believed to be the last person to have seen her alive. The footage captures him leaving the beach around 10 a.m.While Riibe has not been accused of any crime, Dominican authorities have kept him confined to his resort room as a key witness while search efforts for Konanki continue. A FOX News reprt says that Riibe told authorities that he was in the water with Konanki when a big wave hit, and he struggled to help her ashore. Riibe said he last saw Konanki in knee-deep water when he vomited and fell asleep in a beach chair.

Konanki’s Parents Wrote Letter To Dominican Officials

Dominican Republic National Police spokesperson Diego Pesqueira said Konanki’s family has sent the agency a letter requesting a declaration of death. Authorities have not named Joshua Riibe as a suspect, nor has he been accused of any wrongdoing. However, the reason behind the confiscation of his passport remains unclear.

Since Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance in the early hours of March 6, Riibe—a 22-year-old senior at St. Cloud State University from Rock Rapids, Iowa—has been under police surveillance in the Dominican Republic. His parents revealed in a statement that he has been taken in for questioning multiple times by the authorities.

An Ambitious Student

In their letter, Sudiksha Konanki’s parents acknowledged that legal procedures must be followed for their request to have her declared legally deceased. They expressed their willingness to comply with any necessary formalities or documentation, according to sources cited by ABC News.

Konanki, whom her father described as an “ambitious” student with aspirations of studying medicine, arrived in Punta Cana on March 3. She was traveling with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, as confirmed by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

According to reports, She was seen on surveillance footage drinking with five women and two men in the Riu Republica Hotel bar, in the early hours of March 6. In the video, Konanki is seen wearing a white cover-up as she hugs and talks with her friends. Riibe is seen several feet away, bent over and stumbling on the lawn outside the bar.