Father of missing US student Sudiksha Konanki asks for wider investigation in Dominican Republic

The father of a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing in the popular Dominican Republic tourist town of Punta Cana while on spring break with friends, said he has asked authorities to widen their investigation.

Konanki was last seen before dawn on March 6 at a beach near the resort where she was staying, according to Civil Defense officials.

“It’s four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,” her father Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP-FM. “She’s not found, so we’re asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.”

Authorities were using drones, helicopters and detection dogs on Monday to scour the waters off the island’s east coast where she was supposedly last seen, Jensen Sánchez, a Civil Defense spokesman, told The Associated Press.

“The search is underway at sea because it’s presumed she drowned. According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her away, but that is under police investigation,” he said.

He noted it can take more than a week for a body to surface in warm waters.