Ponta Canada, Dominican Republic – The State Department confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that it is assisting witnesses University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha KonankiDisappeared from the Dominican Republic on March 6.
Konanki, 20, has been missing Since the early hours of March 6, Joshua Riibe, 22, was identified as Iowa, outside the Riu Republica Resort Resort in Punta Cana when she was swimming in the ocean with witnesses since the early hours of March 6. She has not found it yet.
“We take our commitment seriously to assist U.S. citizens abroad and provide consular assistance,” the State Department said in a statement. “We have no further comments due to privacy concerns.”
After a night of drinking, Kang Ki went to the beach with seven other friends. Her six friends returned to Riu Republica around 6 a.m. to put the 20-year-old student alone with Riibe, who was also on spring break at Riu Republica, believed to be one of the last to see her alive.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, of Northern Virginia, disappeared for the first time after disappearing from a beach in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, March 6. (Handout, left and defense civilian dominicana, right.)
Riibe is considered Konanki Tell the Dominican authorities According to the translated transcript of the interview they shared with Fox News, a big wave crashed while they were swimming.
He said he tried to help her and ended up seeing her wade in deep knee water. He then began to vomit sea water and noticed that Konanki was no longer in sight and assumed she was back in the hotel room. Ribe said he fell asleep in a beach chair and eventually returned to his room.
Local authorities searched on Friday, March 14, 2025 at Sudiksha Konanki, a missing student in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. March 6, 2025, on the beach outside the 5-star RIU Republic Resort in the Dominican Republic on March 6, 2025, on the beach outside the 6th of March 2025. (Fox News figures)
Hotel surveillance footage showed Riibe returning to his hotel room around 9 a.m. on March 6.
Riibe has been detained in the Dominican since then and filed a habeas order on Monday, challenging his facts in the country. Sources said he is expected to hold a hearing Tuesday and the judge will rule whether he can return to his hometown.
According to a letter they sent to Dominican police on Monday, Konnaby’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, did not make any claims about Riibe’s events about what happened. Her father had previously asked the police to investigate all possibilities.
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Local authorities searched for our missing student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Wednesday, March 11, 2025. Search on the beach outside the 5-star RIU Republic Resort in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, March 11, 2025 on the beach outside the 6th of March 2025 on the 6th of March 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News figures)
“After a lot of searches, Dominican authorities concluded that Sudiksha was believed to have drowned,” her parents wrote in a letter to La Policia Nacional, the country’s national police force, on Monday night. “Her clothes were found on the beach where she last met. The last time she worked with was investigating, no Evidence of foul Already found. ”
They said they made a request after “deliberation” and thanked supporters for their international search efforts.
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Investigators have expanded the search area as U.S. college student Sudiksha Konanki remains missing after disappearing from a beach in Punta Cana on March 6, 2025. (Fox News Graphics)
Konanki, from the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, issued a statement sharing her family’s belief in her drowning.
“While the authorities in the Dominican Republic depend on the authorities, we will continue to review the evidence and information we provide to us during the investigation, we will do everything possible to support the Konanki family.”
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Riibe, senior St. Cloud State University in Minnesota Since Konanki was reportedly missing, he has not been charged with a crime, but is considered a key witness in the case.
Beach loungers sit on the beach at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News figures)
His family said his ongoing needs existed in the country’s needs.
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Ribe was not charged with a crime, but authorities seized his passport when they investigated his records of what happened.
The source said a hearing on habeas truce is expected Tuesday afternoon, but the timing may change.
