The parents of a University of Pittsburgh student from Northern Virginia who has been missing in the Dominican Republic since March 6 have asked the Caribbean nation’s authorities to declare her dead.
A spokesman for the Dominican Republic National Police said Monday that Sudiksha Konanki’s family asked the agency in a letter for a declaration of death.
Ms. Konanki, 20, of Chantilly, Virginia, was on spring break with five Pitt classmates in the Dominican Republic. On the morning of March 6, she and her friends went to a beach in Punta Cana, and eventually she hung out with Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
At about 10 a.m., Mr. Riibe left the beach alone, and Ms. Konanki was declared missing that day.
After nearly two weeks of searching, her parents say they understand there’s no evidence of foul play and have asked the Dominican police to declare her dead instead of missing, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Her disappearance is not being investigated as a criminal case and is being treated as a drowning, Dominican authorities told ABC. Mr. Riibe is cooperating with the investigation and is not considered a suspect in Ms. Konanki’s disappearance.
He is being treated as a person of interest, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia told Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV, and his passport was confiscated by Dominican authorities.
His parents said in a statement, according to WTAE, that “we express our deep sorrow and solidarity with the family of Sudiksha Konanski during this painful time. Above all, we wish to contribute to the search efforts and understand the anguish and uncertainty they are going through, and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as soon as possible.”
Mr. Riibe told investigators that he and Ms. Konanki were waist-deep in the water, talking and kissing, when a large wave struck them and dragged them from the shore. He also explained that, while he was able to swim back with Ms. Konanki, she was tired out.
“When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I put her in front of me. Then she went to gather her belongings, since the ocean had moved us. She wasn’t out of the water, since it was knee-deep. She was walking at an angle in the water. The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the ocean water. … I thought she had grabbed her things and left,” Mr. Riibe told investigators, according to the Dominican newspaper El Nacional as translated from Spanish.
Mr. Riibe also told investigators that afterward he fell asleep on a beach chair before waking up and returning to his room to sleep.
His parents have qualms about his treatment by Dominican authorities.
“Josh has been detained under irregular conditions and subjected to extensive questioning without the presence of official translators or legal counsel. … He has remained in his hotel room under police surveillance and has been repeatedly taken to the police station … which has led us to retain legal counsel to initiate legal actions ensuring his safety and the protection of his rights throughout this process,” Mr. Riibe’s parents said in their statement.
