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 around 04:00 local time on 6 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.

Ms Konanki is a 20-year-old college student attending the University of Pittsburgh, where she studies 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.

She is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. She lives with her family in Chantilly, Virginia, located in Loudoun County.

Ms Konanki was last seen early in the morning of 6 March.

Surveillance video shows her and a group of friends walking toward the beach.

She was with five women and two American men in the video.

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

Dominican President Luis Abinader said earlier this week during a news conference that the last person who had contact with Ms Konanki reported a wave hit them while they were on the beach.

The parents of the man – Joshua Riibe – last seen with Ms Konanki released a statement to CBS News saying they hope Ms Konanki is “found as soon as possible”.

Riibe is a senior at St Cloud State University in Minnesota.

“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. Our only interest is that due process be respected and that actions be taken with the fairness that the situation requires,” the statement reads.

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 are 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”.