Missing Sudiksha Konanki’s parents have penned a letter requesting that authorities in the Dominican Republic declare the University of Pittsburgh student dead.
Konanki, a 20-year-old pre-med student from Chantilly, Virginia, was vacationing with five female college friends on Spring Break in Punta Cana when she vanished on a beach near the Hotel Riu Republica on March 6.
The Dominican Republic’s attorney general said investigators were exploring whether Konanki drowned after her disappearance sparked an intense search involving 300 police and other officials with support from the FBI, across the Caribbean nation.
The girl’s parents Subbarayudu and SreeDevi Konaki submitted a formal written request to officials Monday asking them to legally declare their daughter deceased, according to a copy of the letter released on X by Fox News correspondent Bryan Llenas on Monday morning.
“Following an extensive search, Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned. Her clothes were discovered on a beach near where she was last seen,” the letter states. “Initiating this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence.”
It added: “While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.”
Sources previously cited the letter to ABC News and Santo Domingo-based news service Noticias SIN on Sunday.
The parents acknowledged in the letter they understand that certain legal procedures must be followed to process their request and said there is no suspicion of foul play.
They also wrote that they trust the authorities’ investigation into the case and noted that the last person presumed to see Konaki alive, Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old college student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, has cooperated with investigators.
Konanki was last seen entering a beach at 4:15 a.m. while her friends returned to their hotel room just before 6 a.m. on March 6. The missing girl is believed to have stayed on the beach with Riibe.
The man told police he went for a swim with Konanki, and the two had kissed in the water before a large wave swept her up as they both struggled against a rough tide, an interview transcript obtained by NBC News stated.
“I kept trying to get her to breathe, but that didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he said. He also told investigators that he used to work as a lifeguard.
Last week, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia described Riibe as a “person of interest” and said it had sent detectives to assist.
On Sunday morning, Riibe was seen on the beach with investigators, his father, and an attorney, after authorities confiscated his travel documents on Friday, according to NBC News.
Riibe had been “confined to the hotel since the investigation began” and was being chaperoned by permanent police escort, his lawyers told the outlet. They added: “He is not free to leave.”
Speaking from his hotel, Riibe told the outlet that he is “just trying to help them (authorities) out,” before adding: “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
