Sudiksha Konanki’s grieving parents have asked Dominican authorities to formally declare that she is dead, a source has told DailyMail.com.
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation says Sudiksha’s family has accepted she won’t be found alive, 11 days after she vanished in the early hours of March 6 while on spring break in Punta Cana.
Her disappearance sparked an intense multi-agency search, despite authorities warning early on that she’d likely tragically drowned in the rough search.
Now, the local source alleges her devastated parents Subbarayudu and SreeDevi have submitted a formal written request to the National Police for a ‘legal declaration of death.’
Sudiksha’s parents noted in the letter that they trust the authorities’ investigation, the source claimed.
They also wrote that the young person last seen with their daughter, 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, has fully cooperated with police and believe there is no evidence of foul play, the insider said.
Certain legal procedures must reportedly be followed in order to process the family’s request.
Sudiksha Konanki vanished from the Riu Republica resort in Punta Cana last Thursday
Surveillance video footage obtained by Dominican Republic news outlet Noticias SIN showed Joshua Riibe (left) and Sudiksha Konanki (second from left) following their friends to the beach at the Riu Republica Hotel before Konanki disappeared March 6
They have expressed they are willing to comply with necessary formalities.
It is a tragic end to the search, one week-and-a-half after the pre-med student first vanished.
Initially, her parents begged authorities to widen the search zone and to take seriously the possibility that Sudiksha didn’t drown but was instead kidnapped.
‘It’s four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,’ Subbarayudu wrote in a statement to police.
‘She’s not found, so we’re asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.’
They last heard from her during an 8pm phone call on the evening of March 5.
Riibe was the last person to be seen with Sudiksha shortly before 5am on March 6th. They had gone to the beach after a night of drinking with friends.
He told police that the pair went for a swim and were knocked out by a large wave. He claimed he used his lifeguard training to drag her back towards the shore, but that the last time he saw her she was waist deep in water.
Sudiksha Konanki disappeared from a beach at the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on March 6. Authorities in the Caribbean country believe she may have drowned
Her disappearance sparked an intense multi-agency search, despite authorities warning early on that she’d likely tragically drowned in the rough search
He managed to get out and passed out on a sun bed, he said. Sudiksha was never seen again.
Surveillance camera footage from the all-inclusive five-star hotel showed both Riibe and Konanki vomiting at a bar at 4:05 am on March 6 before they walked to the beach.
A second camera spotted Riibe holding a cup and placing his arm around Konanki back as they trailed the group at 4:15 am. At about 4:55 am, the hotel security camera system showed two of her friends returning to the hotel.
Sudiksha, an Indian national who emigrated to the US as a young child, was enjoying a Caribbean getaway with five female college friends when she was reported missing on Thursday.
Members of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic used drones as part of the search operation
A sarong and pair of flip flops believed to belong to the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student were found at the beach where she vanished.
Images of the white netted beach cover-up and a pair of flip-flops – similar to what the young woman was wearing when she was last seen – were shared online.
The harrowing photos, showing what could potentially be Konanski’s belongings, were sprawled across a sun lounger and sitting in the sand besides the leg of the chair.
Authorities confirmed to local media there were no signs of tampering with her belongings.
‘This is one of the largest operations we have carried out for the rescue of a person,’ Agustín Morillo Rodríguez, general commander of the Dominican Republic Navy, said.
