Before the American college student went missing in the Dominican Republic, she had been drinking with the last people she was seen with on March 6. They then made the decision to swim in rough surf, sparking questions about potential liability for the resort where they were staying.
Sudiksha Konanki and her friends left a hotel bar to head to the beach outside the RIU Republica in Punta Cana during the early morning hours of March 6. She was accompanied by five female friends from the University of Pittsburgh.
The 20-year-old student went for a swim with a 22-year-old man named Joshua Riibe from Iowa, who is a witness in her disappearance. According to Riibe, the two of them went swimming and were hit by a large wave, after which he lost sight of her.
“I was over at the Natalee Holloway investigation way back when. And although there are some similarities here, there are some differences,” Chris Swecker, former FBI Criminal Investigative Division assistant director, told Fox News Digital. “But in this case, I think it’s plausible, based on everything that I’ve read, that it is a drowning.… I don’t think it’s an outlandish assumption here, based on the facts, that they were both pretty drunk.”
Konanki was last seen on surveillance footage walking from RIU Republica to the beach with seven other people, including five females and two males, around 4:15 a.m. on March 6. She was last seen on the beach around 4:50 a.m., according to the Dominican Republic prosecutor’s office and the hotel.
Local authorities participate in the search for missing student Sudiksha Konanki, March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
Hotel surveillance footage then shows a group of six people, including five women and one man, returning to the hotel from the beach around 5:55 a.m.
The young man previously seen with Konanki is seen on surveillance footage entering the interior of the hotel around 9 a.m. on March 6.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office at 703-777-1021. To remain anonymous, call Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
