International authorities are searching for a missing University of Pittsburgh student who disappeared while on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic last week.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was with a group of six students visiting Punta Cana when she went missing, according to the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia. Konanki’s family resides in Virginia and the agency was contacted Thursday to report her disappearance.
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office said it is working with Dominican authorities and state and federal agencies. As Konanki is also a citizen of India, the sheriff’s office said the Indian Embassy in the Dominican Republic is taking the lead to work with law enforcement and the State Department.
“Our office is supporting those efforts and continuing to investigate locally,” the sheriff’s office said.
La Altagracia Civil Defense, the local Dominican Republic emergency operations agency, said it was coordinating an extensive search.
“Several brigades have been deployed by sea and land, to find the whereabouts of the foreigner,” the agency said in a statement on Facebook.
A University of Pittsburgh spokesperson urged anyone with information on Konanki’s disappearance to contact the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office.
“University officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konanki’s family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and we have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,” the spokesperson said.
Amita Kelly and Tangni Noriega contributed.
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