A 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student who disappeared from a five-star resort in the Dominican Republic, likely failed to own the beach, as some reports suggested, according to a private investigator who went to Natalie Holloway's loss under similar circumstances in 2005.
Sudiksha Conanki, a lawful US resident of Virginia, was last seen entering the beach at the Ryu Lepolika resort in Punta Cana early Thursday morning, according to National Police La Policia Nacional. According to a translation of the Spanish statement, she was with a friend currently under investigation.
“I don't think she owns at sea,” said TJ Ward, a private investigator who worked for Holloway's parents after disappearing on a trip she went with her high school classmates to celebrate her graduation. “I totally believe that someone knows where she is or someone has taken her away or someone has her somewhere.”
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Sudiksha Konanki on Facebook selfie. The 20-year-old junior at the University of Pittsburgh has been missing since March 6th. She disappeared during a spring break trip to a five-star resort in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha konanki/facebook)
Her whereabouts remain unknown ABC News She may have owned died, citing law enforcement sources, reported Monday.
Ward rejected the theory, saying Dominican police were investigating one of Conanki's friends and trying to support the claims from the “young man” who was also in the water that night. They questioned several witnesses, including her friend.
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“If she had been in the water, she would have washed away the path to the island somewhere with the tide,” Ward said.
Authorities are searching by land, air and sea, and he said that it is likely that an underwater body has been found unless someone has taken her far away.
Conanki's family is also skeptical of reports that she may have been drowned; WTOP Newsa Washington-based outlet.
“In four days, if she was underwater, she would probably be scattered across the coast,” her father, Sabu Belayudu Conanki, told the outlet. “She can't be found so I'm asking her to investigate multiple options, such as invitations and aiding.”
Sudiksha Konanki appears in undated photos on her Tiktok profile. She was last seen on March 6th at a resort beach in Punta Cana. (@sudikshakonanki/tiktok)
Elder Conanki said that in a complaint filed with Dominican authorities asking them to investigate possible temptations and foul plays, saying that his daughter's phone and wallet were left with her friends, he said it was “unusual,” according to the outlet.
Attempts to contact him from Fox News Digital failed on Monday.
Conanki was on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic with five female classmates, authorities previously said.
Pitt students disappear on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic while walking along the beach
She arrived on March 3rd and was last seen on surveillance video around 4:15am on March 6th, and headed to the beach with a friend, according to local police.
Conanki's Lost Disappear shares some similarities with Holloway. Both young women traveled to a Caribbean beach resort with their classmates. Both disappeared on the beach at night and left late after their friends returned to their respective hotels. The Holloway case came to a horrifying conclusion last year after suspect Jolan van der Slut confessed he would kill her almost 20 years after the fact.
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Jolan van der Slut was a major suspect in 2005 in the loss of Natalie Holloway for nearly 20 years. He eventually admitted to killing another young woman, Stephanie Flores, after facing federal accusations that she tried to exo her mother in 2010 when she served a sentence in Peru for killing another young woman, 21-year-old Stephanie Flores. (Getty Images, AP)
“They don't understand travel in these other countries,” Ward said of American students who might be attracted to the idea of going to a place where they can legally drink under the age of 21.
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“There's a problem with attacks, tricks, etc,” he told Fox News Digital. “The younger people don't understand theories about what's going on in these other countries. I think they can leave because they can drink, party, run away at a young age, stop doing it and do things they couldn't do in America.”
He said there are “big problems” in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries.
In 2019, at least 11 Americans died, and thousands more suffered from food poisoning within the country. Berkshire Hathaway Travel protection. That same year, Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz survived a nightclub shooting there.
“There's a bad guy out in the middle of the night, and I don't know why she went out at 4:30am or where her friends were, but you can't walk in a country like you know nothing,” Ward said. “You have to stay in the group and you're not a target.”
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“So they need to realize that there is a big problem with people who have spring break because they can feel they have resources, they have luxury and do what they want to do without seeing them,” he added. “And the people there are girls and there are bad people on these islands. They need to see, and law enforcement knows that.”
Punta Cana on the map. (Google Maps)
Police have questioned several witnesses, including her friends and the “young man” named after they said they were trying to back it up.
Conanki is originally from India, but is a legal permanent resident in Loudoun County, near Washington, D.C., according to authorities. She is 5 feet tall, 3 inches tall, has dark hair and brown eyes. She was finally wearing a brown bikini, hoop earrings, a bracelet and anklet.
A spokesman for the Loudon County Sheriff's Office also told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that Conanki owned's death report was “based on the last known location near the beach, but [there’s] At this time there is no evidence to support that conclusion. ”
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Greg Norman and Michael Dorgan of Fox News contributed to this report.
