Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki missing after traveling to Dominican Republic
A University of Pittsburgh student went missing after traveling to the Dominican Republic.
The student was identified as Sudiksha Konanki, 20, from Virginia. Dominican Republic authorities say Konanki went missing while "walking on a beach."
A Dominican police source tells CBS News that Konanki walked to a beach with five women she was traveling with. They were accompanied by two other American men.
Konanki stayed on the beach with one of the men while the rest of the group returned to the hotel.
Nobody has been detained and the investigation is ongoing.
A Pitt spokesperson told KDKA-TV that the university is in contact with Konanki's family and authorities in her native northern Virginia.
"We have confirmed that there were six female students of the University of Pittsburgh traveling in Punta Cana, at least two of whom are residents of Loudoun County, Va., one of whom is the missing person who is also a citizen of India," said a Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.
The sheriff's office said the Embassy of India in the Dominican Republic is working with the State Department and other law enforcement.
"Our office is supporting those efforts and continuing to investigate locally," said the sheriff's office spokesperson.
"It's circulating through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter," said one Pitt student who did not want to be identified. "It just makes you wonder," the student said.
The Dominican Civil Defense and other authorities have spent the past couple days looking for Konanki. They're walking through beaches and using helicopters.
"I hope she gets found soon," the unidentified student said. "I think people are concerned because who would think it would be a girl from Pitt?"
The student KDKA-TV spoke with Sunday says she and others spent days without reliable internet. Information was scarce until they returned to the United States.
"As soon as we landed in Fort Lauderdale, [that] was whenever we saw everybody posting that a girl had gone missing," she said.
After returning, she and others have a lot of questions. But among those questions, there's disbelief.
"Somebody else's friend is missing, and it's scary. I can only imagine how they're feeling right now," she said.
