PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – In nearly two weeks after disappearing from a five-star resort in Punta Cana's beach town, parents asked Dominican police to declare death and told authorities they would accept the publicly known story of Iwightness.
According to a letter sent to Dominican police on Monday, Subbarayudu and Thriedevi Konanki have not challenged the story of Joshua Libe, a 22-year-old Iowa man and fellow spring breaker who is thought to be the last person to see his daughter alive. Her father had previously asked the police to investigate all the possibilities.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared on March 6 after going to the beach with seven others around 4:15am, according to surveillance video. Most of her group returned around 6am and returned to her an hour later, but she left the Riibe.
Conanki's family did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the letter obtained by Fox News.
Key witnesses ask the court to end the de facto home arrest
Suddiksha Conanki, 20, from northern Virginia, was reported missing on Thursday, March 6 after disappearing from a beach in the Dominican Republic. (handouts, left, and Defensive Citizen Dominicana, right.)
“After a major search, Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have been drowned,” her parents wrote in a letter Monday night to the country's national police, La Policia Nacional. “Her clothes were found on a beach near where she was last seen. She and the last individual she saw were working with the investigation and no evidence of foul play was found.”
They said they made the request after “many deliberations” and thanked their supporters for their international search efforts.
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20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki was last seen on March 6, 2025 on the beach outside the five-star RIU Republica resort in the Dominican Republic. (Fox News Digital)
“By starting this process, the family can begin the grief process and address issues related to her absence,” wrote the grief parents.
“While the declaration cannot really relieve our grief, I believe this step will bring some closure and allow us to respect her memory.”
Please read Conanki letter:
Libe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, has not been charged with the crime but is considered a key witness in the case, but has been monitored at the resort since Conanki was reported missing.
His family calls his continued presence in the country “irregular.”
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The beach area of RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy: D'Lani Sweeney)
In the leaked transcript of an interview with police, he allegedly told detectives he saw her on the beach after they were both pulled offshore with a strong current.
Riibe said that after struggling to return to the land, she finally saw her walking in the deep knee water before falling asleep in her chair, according to the transcript obtained by Fox News.
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On Monday, his lawyer filed a habeas-safe warrant and challenged him to de facto detention within the country. He has been drilling holes in the RIU Republica resort since Conanki disappeared. When they met, they were both staying there for their spring break holidays.
Libe has not been charged with a crime, but authorities confiscated his passport while investigating his version of the event.
A hearing on the habeas-protection petition is expected to take place Tuesday afternoon, sources say the timing could change.
