Authorities believe Pitt student who vanished in the Dominican Republic drowned: report

Authorities believe the University of Pittsburgh student who vanished in the Dominican Republic last week drowned after she was caught in a big wave, according to a report.

Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was with six other people on a Punta Cana beach Wednesday night before most of the group packed up and called it a night, while she and one other person stayed on the sand through early Thursday, three Dominican officials told ABC News Sunday night.

Konanki, a legal permanent US resident who lived in an upscale suburb of Washington, DC, and the other person then went for a swim where they faced a huge wave, according to an investigative police report cited by the outlet.

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Konanki, who is an Indian national, traveled with five friends from Pitt to the sunny Caribbean island and was reportedly swimming local outlet Listin Diario reported earlier.

He was questioned by investigators, though it was unclear if he was also a Pitt student.

Konanki was last spotted at the beach on surveillance video around 4:15 a.m. Thursday, the Dominican Republic Public Ministry told ABC News.  

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A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County where Konanki is from told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in response to the ABC report that talk about the student drowning might be “based on her last known location near the beach, but [there’s] no evidence to support that conclusion at this time.”

Follow the latest on the search for missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki:

• Joshua Riibe detained in Puerto Rico as his frustrated dad tells reporters to leave them alone after Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance
• Josh Riibe is ‘free to leave’ the DR after being held in Sudiksha Konanki disappearance, judge rules
• Sudiksha Konanki’s parents reveal they now think she drowned and that Josh Riibe wasn’t responsible
• Parents of missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki ask DR officials to declare daughter dead
• Joshua Riibe officially cleared in Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance in the DR

Rescue teams set off a desperate search for the young woman, including using helicopters and drones to scour the water while crews combed over the white sands.

She was last seen wearing a brown bikini along with bracelets on both arms and an anklet, according to authorities.