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FBI joins frantic search for University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in Dominican Republic: report

By
Isabel Keane and
Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
Published March 11, 2025
Updated March 11, 2025, 5:34 p.m. ET

The FBI has joined the search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who mysteriously vanished last week while on spring break with friends in the Dominican Republic, authorities said Tuesday.

Police in Punta Cana said they are re-interviewing 20-year-old Kananki’s five travel companions, hotel employees and others who were with her in the early morning hours of March 6 on a beach at the upscale Riu República Hotel.

The investigation is now being led by a “high-level commission” of local and US agencies, including the FBI, officials said.

Sudiksha Konanki has been missing since Thursday morning. TikTok / @avaaz_official
She was last seen walking along the beach in a brown bikini.
She was spotted on security cameras walking along the beach with others in a brown bikini.

“As part of international cooperating protocols, the FBI and the US Embassy Liaison have increased their involvement, in accordance with established memorandums of understanding,” the Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement. 

“The investigation confirms that the disappearance occurred after 4:15 a.m. on March 6, 2025, at which time the missing woman and her foreign companions were captured on surveillance cameras just meters away from entering the beach area.” 

The search for Konanki, an Indian citizen and permanent US resident, entered its fifth day Tuesday. The pre-med student was on a spring break vacation with friends from the University of Pittsburgh when she disappeared Thursday.

security footage of Sudiksha Konanki
Sudiksha Konanki was pictured walking with a group of friends in the last known image of her before she disappeared. Noticias Sin

Konanki and several friends were on the beach Wednesday before most of the group called it a night and headed back to their hotel, leaving the young woman on the sand alone with Joshua Steven Riibe, a fellow guest at the Caribbean resort, according to local reports that cited authorities.

Riibe, 24, who traveled to the Dominican Republic from Iowa, gave authorities three different accounts of what happened after the two were alone on the beach, first telling cops he threw up from the rough surf and went back to shore — but asked Konanki if she was OK, reports said.

In the second version, he allegedly said he felt sick to his stomach and left the water, last seeing the missing woman in knee-deep surf before he passed out.

Follow the latest on the search for missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki:

Lastly, he told authorities he saw Konanki walking along the shore before he passed out in the sand.

Police have not said if they suspect foul play. Despite his cooperation with authorities, Dominican President Luis Abinader said Riibe’s accounts worried authorities. 

“We are concerned,” he said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. “All government agencies are searching … because the latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”

Here is the latest information on missing Pitt student, Sudiksha Konanki:

  • University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki was on spring break in Punta Cana prior to her disappearance.
  • Konanki, from Virginia, and her pals went onto the beach from a disco at the Riu Republica Hotel early in the morning following a power outage.
  • She was last seen with Joshua Steven Riibe from Iowa, who was named “a person of interest.”
  • Sheriff Mike Chapman of Konanki’s hometown in Loudoun County, Virginia, has previously said it is too early to determine if she had drowned.
  • Konanki’s parents asked Dominican Republic officials to declare her dead despite her body not being recovered.
  • Riibe was officially cleared of wrongdoing Konanki’s disappearance.

Riibe’s father declined to comment on Monday. 

Dominican officials have speculated that the pre-med student likely drowned after jumping into the ocean in a brown bikini, while her father has called to expand search efforts over his “growing suspicion” she was kidnapped. 

Missing persons posters have described Konanki as 5 foot 3 with black hair and brown eyes. 

Authorities have deployed choppers, drones, boats, scuba divers and all-terrain vehicles but have been unable to find answers. 

“The FBI continues to assist our international partners in this matter,” an agency spokesperson said in a email Tuesday.

“The FBI may devote resources to investigations in foreign countries when an American citizen is missing or has been victimized, or when American interests are targeted or suspected to be.”

With Post wires