Haunting photo shows missing Pitt student smiling in same bikini she was wearing when she vanished from Dominican Republic beach
A bikini-clad University of Pittsburgh student was seen smiling in a haunting picture at her resort in the Dominican Republic while on spring break ā just before she went missing while wearing the same distinctive swimsuit.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, who is from an upscale suburb of Washington, DC, vanished after āwalking on the beachā in the popular resort town of Punta Cana, authorities said.
She was last seen around 4:50 a.m. last Thursday at the Riu Republica Resort beach.
Konanki was also wearing a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist, yellow and steel bracelets on her right arm, an anklet on her right leg, and large round earrings.
A missing persons posters describe her as 5-foot-3 tall with brown eyesĀ and black hair.
She is an Indian national based in Chantilly, Virginia, and she was on the Caribbean island with five friends from the University of Pittsburgh, Fox 32 reported.
The Indian embassy is working in with officials from Loudoun County, Virginia, and multiple Dominican Republic agencies as part of the search effort.
University of Pittsburgh officials are also coordinating with Konankiās family.
āUniversity officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konankiās family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and we have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely,ā the school said in a statement.
Other photos from scenic beach showed searchers in orange shirts and vest combing the white sands for and signs of Konanki or evidence of what might have happened to her.
Drones and military choppers have also been employed in the search, Dominican outlet La Republica reported. Video from the beach show the craft soaring low over the clear water off the coast.
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