PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Authorities investigating the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki are expanding their search effort as Thursday marks one week since the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh junior vanished from a Punta Cana resort.
Her whereabouts remain unknown, and officials say they are working a missing persons case and not a criminal investigation, but they have left open all possibilities.
The Dominican Republic’s top prosecutor said Wednesday that her office is considering the possibility that something “beyond a possible accidental event” has taken place, and experts say the probe will likely examine competing theories until investigators come up with answers.
Authorities are now searching additional neighboring beaches as well as on land with 300 officers, search dogs, boats, two helicopters and other resources, Fox News Digital has confirmed. Other assets include both navy and local divers, drones and a topographical aircraft.
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US college student Sudiksha Konanki went missing while on vacation with her friends in Punta Cana on March 6, 2025. (Fox News Graphics)
Konanki was last seen in the early hours of March 6 with a young man at the five-star Riu Republica resort in Punta Cana. Surveillance footage captured her walking to the beach around 4:15 a.m. with seven other people, including five women she was traveling with for spring break and two males, after they spent time at the hotel bar.
The rest of the group was seen leaving the beach around 6 a.m. The remaining male came back at roughly 10 a.m. She is the only person who is unaccounted for, and her friends reported her missing around 4 p.m. that day.
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The missing woman’s hometown sheriff, Mike Chapman of Loudoun County, Virginia, has described the man she was seen walking to the beach with as a “person of interest” because he was the last person seen with her before she vanished, but investigators have made clear that they do not consider the search for her to be a criminal investigation at this point. There are no suspects, and police have not sought any arrest warrants.
Local authorities search for missing US student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was last seen on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic on March 6, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
La Policia Nacional, the country’s national police and the lead agency on the case, has not used the person of interest term to describe anyone. Neither have other assisting bodies, including the FBI.
Sudiksha Konanki in a Facebook selfie photo. The 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh junior has been missing since March 6, when she vanished during a spring break trip to a five-star resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha Konanki/Facebook)
“We are utilizing all our resources to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki, and we understand the distress this case causes her family, Dominican citizens, and Americans,” Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso said. “Like with any disappearance that occurs in the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables.”
She said that in addition to the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations is also providing assistance to Dominican police. HSI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency’s potential role in the case was not immediately clear.
Military personnel search for Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student from the U.S. who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Monday, March 10. (AP/Francesco Spotorno)
“There may be duplicate efforts or they may be coordinated through the embassy,” said Jason Pack, a retired FBI agent who has been following the case. “Usually all the agencies work through the regional security officer at the U.S. embassy in Santa Domingo, since the state department has the lead for foreign relations, but usually there are offices from a host of other law-enforcement agencies, including DEA, HSI, [etc.]”
He told Fox News Digital that additional U.S.-based agencies may also be gathering background information to share with Dominican police, including in Pittsburgh, where she went to school.
People enjoy time by the sea at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
“I’m sure they are assisting the Dominican police and gathering information putting a timeline together of events here, identifying associates and just getting an overall picture of what her life was like prior to the trip,” he said. “And maybe some of those leads will provide insight as to a state of mind or who additional associates might be if she was talking with anybody before she went.”
Col. Diego Pesqueira, spokesman for La Policia Nacional, has asked the public for patience as the investigation plays out.
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People enjoy time in the sea at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
Authorities have been gathering surveillance video to piece together a timeline of her trip from her arrival on March 3 until her disappearance on March 6.
She was spotted with her friends, having a drink, in the hotel lobby around 3:30 a.m. and again at another hotel bar a half-hour later. Her last known appearance on video came around 4:15 a.m. as the group moved toward the beach behind the hotel. Neighboring resorts on either side have their own cameras on the beach, aimed at their own property. It’s not clear that Riu had cameras there.
Local authorities search for missing US student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
There was a red-flag warning posted at the time of her disappearance, urging people not to swim in rough currents.
After Konanki’s disappearance, police recovered her sandals and a sarong-style beach gown.
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Sudiksha Konanki was last seen in the early morning hours of March 6. (Facebook)
Reynoso’s office said late Wednesday that the search had expanded up the coast into neighboring beaches, Uvero Alto-Macao, Macao-Playa Arena Gorda, and Cortecito-Playa Arena Gorda. Civil Defense forces and firefighters have joined the effort.
Police have spent days searching the coastline with boats, dive teams and helicopters.
Beach loungers sit on the sand by the sea at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) said in a Tuesday statement that “[t]here has been considerable public speculation about what may have happened to Konanki and who may be involved.”
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“We caution anyone from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are committed to ensuring that a thorough investigation is conducted before any conclusions are reached,” they said in a news release. “The LCSO is hopeful for the safe return of Sudiksha Konanki, and we are committed to supporting this investigation and her family in every way possible.”
Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the LCSO at 703-777-1021. To remain anonymous, call the Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.
