Missing Sudiksha Konanki: Ret. FBI agent identifies ‘critical’ steps

A retired FBI special agent may share his analysis and investigators may be able to search for a missing American college student who has disappeared from a beach in the Dominican Republic.

“The FBI cannot take over this investigation, but we are urging Dominican authorities to use diplomatic channels to prioritize key investigative procedures, provide in-laws and coordinate intelligence sharing that could reveal new leads,” Jason Pack told Fox News Digital.

Pack, a retired FBI manager special agent, is a former leader of the FBI's child abduction Rapid Deployment team and plays a legal attachment.

“Authors will need to cross-reference surveillance footage using telephone data and banking transactions to identify her last known movement,” Pack said. “They should also use cognitive interview techniques on key witnesses to detect inconsistencies rather than accepting surface-level statements.”

American College Student Suddiksha Konanki's Lost Disappearance in the Dominican Republic: Timeline

Pack added that there are “critical investigation procedures” that need to occur now, and there are important roles that the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) and forensic experts should take.

“While the BAU can help profile potential suspects, the FBI forensics team can help with DNA analysis, digital forensics and geolocation tracking. A resource that local governments cannot use at their disposal.”

Regarding the support of the Conanki family, Pack says the FBI's victim services department is already involved with families, providing updates from the investigation, guidance on how to deal with foreign law enforcement agencies, and helping them navigate the crisis.

The sheriff of the American college student's hometown confirms that the interested person has issued a contradictory statement

Local authorities are searching for a missing student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez from Fox News Digital)

Police said they are resident of Conanki. Loudoun County, Virginiatravelled with five people from the University of Pittsburgh to the Ryurepublica Hotel in Punta Cana during school spring break, which began on March 2nd and ended on Sunday.

She was last seen on surveillance cameras, and five other people entered the beach at the five-star resort Thursday at 4:15am, Dominican national police said earlier in a statement.

Footage obtained by Noticias Sin showed Conanki appearing to be clinging to the man as the group proceeded towards the beach.

It was the last time authorities tracked down Conanki before Virginia residents disappeared.

Nicole Parker, a former special FBI agent and contributor to Fox News, shared an analysis of Conanki's search and said she believes it is to decide who she ultimately saw as an investigator.

Parker said that investigators have Conanki's phone and wallet so they'll look into all that information and understand everything she can do about the man she saw in the end.

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Authorities have not been appointed suspects in an ongoing investigation. On Tuesday, Dominican national police said they are “reviewing targeted individuals who were in the proximity of the victim at the time of their loss of failure.”

The joint investigation into the loss of Conanki's Disappearance is being conducted by the US Embassy of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican National Police and the Dominican Public Prosecutor's Office. FBI We also support them.

Michael Ruiz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.