DR, Sudiksha Konanki, 20, Punta Cana, 6 March 2025

[truthfinder2019]

Video evidence points to additional people being on the beach around the time Konanki went missing, beyond a young man who’d told police he’d been with her there, the law enforcement officials assisting with the probe said. Investigators are trying to identify these people while asking that they come forward with any information about Konanki.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/13/us/missing-us-student-punta-cana-beach-hnk/index.html

 

[truthfinder2019]

Interpol issues global alert in search for missing college student Sudiksha Konanki​

Interpol issues global alert in search for missing college student Sudiksha Konanki

International agencies are intensifying the search for Sudiksha Konanki, 20, one week after she went missing from a beach in the Dominican Republic.

eu.usatoday.com

View Yellow Notices

View and search public Yellow Notices for missing persons

www.interpol.int

Yellow notices are typically issued in cases of unexplained disappearances

the Hotel Riu Republica, where Konanki was a guest, told People that a "red flag was placed on the beach" around the time that she vanished. The resort says the red flag provides a warning that "the sea had a strong current and very high waves."

Search for Sudiksha Konanki: Man believed to be last person to see missing Pittsburgh student in Punta Cana returns to U.S.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic have been searching by land, air and water for Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared on March 6 during a spring break trip in Punta Cana.

www.yahoo.com

 

[whitelilac]

The other drownings in the area, in January.

Four tourists drowned off the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic and two others were rescued

Four tourists have drowned off the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic near the popular tourist town of Punta Cana.

apnews.com

Update: Five tourists drown in Punta Cana

<p>At least five tourists would have lost their lives this Friday after drowning on the Cana Bay beach in Punta Cana, La Altagracia while enjoying a swim in the coastal area. According to the Radio Televisión Dominicana (RTVD) portal, the authorities have not confirmed the deceased’s nationality...

dominicantoday.com

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I feel if there really were other people in the same area when something happened, there probably wasn't foul play by the young man who was with her. It's possible but doesn't seem as likely to me. Especially if it's true he stayed and slept out on the beach.
Just my current opinion.

 

[Marfe]

Solid reasoning there. You are asking the right questions. Pyschologically, it is unlikely that SK would have remained in the rough waters alone, especially if the guy was throwing up and passing out. Her instinct would have been to get out for her own safety as well as to see if she could help the guy if he was sick.

JMO - stringing things together that came out in the press, some things were translated wrong maybe. His different versions may not be different, just picked out in the wrong order due to translations?. I mean, it makes sense that they went in, got knocked about by waves. ( statement: I saw her get knocked down by a wave). He gets out, vomits, lies on beach chair and sees her walking in the ocean towards where she left her clothes. (statement picked out : last saw her walking in the ocean, different from statement he saw her being knocked down by a wave - but both happened just put in statement non chronologically?)He passes out. Wakes up, she's gone, he's still out of it and leaves thinking se left beach before him and will meet again later or whatever.

IMOO that makes perfect sense and is likely what happened. She likely was caught by a wave when trying to get back to her clothes and drowned. And now his name will forever be linked to hers and associated with suspicions. There is no innocent until proven guilty apparently. Her future caught short, his ruined forever, only losers here. So sad, for both partied involved

 

[Peppery]

With as impaired as he appeared in the video, if he saw her get knocked down and attempted to save her, we would be posting about two potential drowning victims instead of one. Moo

 

[Marfe]

With as impaired as he appeared in the video, if he saw her get knocked down and attempted to save her, we would be posting about two potential drowning victims instead of one. Moo

agreed.

Also, that may have been taken out of context during an interview. Just my own suspicion though. As in he said something like : we got knocked down by waves. I had to vomit and walked out. Question: did you get out of the water together? Answer: No, I ran out, vomited. Saw her walking in the gulf towards where she left her clothes. That got interpreted as he left her behind in water after they got knocked about. He may not have thought she needed saving at all as he saw her walking before passing out. Now people are saying he left her knocked down and out and did not try help.

IMOO etc etc

 

[Cryptic]

IMOO that makes perfect sense and is likely what happened. She likely was caught by a wave when trying to get back to her clothes and drowned. And now his name will forever be linked to hers and associated with suspicions. There is no innocent until proven guilty apparently.

Presuming she wanted to keep her clothes dry and placed them above the surf line, it would have needed to of been a tremendous wave to carry her out.

Such waves do occur on Pacific beaches and have drowned a number of people. I dont know how often they occur in the Gulf of Mexico ( Yikes, politics, but that is the historical name before there was a "Mexico" or a "United States" as nations).

I agree, with your concerns about jumping to a conclusion of "presumed guilty".

But.... its also equally detrimental to operate under: Well, she could have drowned. So, nobody should question the POIs claims about anything.

 

[whitelilac]

Presuming she wanted to keep her clothes dry and placed them above the surf line, it would have needed to of been a tremendous wave to carry her out.

Such waves do occur on Pacific beaches and have drowned a number of people. I dont know how often they occur in the Gulf of Mexico ( Yikes, politics, but that is the historical name before there was a "Mexico" or a "United States" as nations).

I agree, with your concerns about jumping to a conclusion of "presumed guilty".

But.... its also equally detrimental to operate under: Well, she could have drowned. So, nobody should question the POIs claims about anything.

5 tourists have drowned in the same area, in the last 2 months as per reports linked above. That's quite alarming.

 

[Cryptic]

5 tourists have drowned in the same area, in the last 2 months as per reports. That's quite alarming.

I agree.

Then again, my favorite beaches in Florida (Fort Walton Beach / Destin) area can also run up near the same, or, even the same death toll in the course of a rough summer.

And, the Florida death toll is with very readily available life guards on jet skis as well as Coast Guard and Airforce helicopters equipped with the latest hi tech sensing gear.

FWB even made it a crime to swim with double red flags. In the end, fun, sun, beaches and.... too much suds can be a deadly combination. One fatality was even a former NFL athlete swimming from a boat in a popular off shore party spot featuring sand bars.

In the end, when some men see women in bikinis, they sadly become "invincible" in their own minds. Swimming, fire works, gymnastic "watch this", and badly thought out gun stunts can follow.

 

[Vaderman]

Seems like some stakeholders are looking to victim blame as well. Unreal:

Dominican politician makes shock remark about missing American student

Sudiksha Konanki vanished in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search and investigation in and around the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A Dominican senator desperate to retain tourism said that missing American student Sudiksha Konanki had it coming when she vanished in a shocking on-air rant.

***

'There was obviously a red flag on the beach. What were those young people looking for with a red flag at four in the morning on the beach? A red flag means everywhere, the world knows this: don't go to the beach.'

***

She went on to criticize media outlets reporting Konanki's disappearance, insisting they are instead 'trying to discredit the destination.

'We have many enemies, and any little thing that happens here - how many people, how many things haven't happened to tourists in different parts of the world?'

In a direct plea to social media networks in the Dominican Republic, Bournigal warned them to 'be careful' about what they are posting.

'Be careful with that. Be careful. Let's all be careful. The Dominican Republic, today, it's a safe island.

 

[Himako14]

I agree that he should have notified someone, but he probably wasn’t thinking straight since he was drunk. Maybe he thought she would come back up. I don’t know and can’t answer that.

<modsnip - SM rumor removed> But he may have realized that he couldn’t save her. Apparently there was high waves that night [per post #338]. Not easy swimming conditions even for a sober person. Now a sober person would have reported it right away, but drunk people don’t make good decisions.

JMO

 

[GXP Sleuther]

I’m really struggling with the targeting of the “poi” here. IMO it was inappropriate for him to be labeled that until there was something solid. Maybe there is but I think he was just thrown out there to not make this an “omg it’s unsafe” conversation

The only thing we know factually is that they appear to be drunk, were alone together and he was seen leaving the area.

I don’t really see that victim blaming should occur but I also don’t see that we have literally ANY information that puts this on him or makes the blame here either. Presumably he was a drunk man a she was a drunk women both making very poor choices. Both responsible for themselves until we know otherwise.

BBM.

That's why he's a "POI".

See Holloway case. What's up with blaming the victim here? This one seems pretty cut and dry.

 

[Himako14]

Punta Cana waves

Looks like the waves were about 5’7” (1.69) around in Punta Cana, a bit south of where the resort is, the night she disappeared.

 

[Ssschu]

I agree that he should have notified someone, but he probably wasn’t thinking straight since he was drunk. Maybe he thought she would come back up. I don’t know and can’t answer that.

<modsnip - SM rumor removed>, then yes he should have take the drowning seriously. But he may have realized that he couldn’t save her. Apparently there was high waves that night [per post #338]. Not easy swimming conditions even for a sober person. Now a sober person would have reported it right away, but drunk people don’t make good decisions.

JMO

BBM

That doesn't make it any less negligent (criminally negligent IMO).

 

[Ssschu]

BBM.

That's why he's a "POI".

See Holloway case. What's up with blaming the victim here? This one seems pretty cut and dry.

Yes, he is literally the definition of a POI. That's why he's being called that instead of a suspect at this point.

 

[PrairieWind]

Interpol issues global alert in search for missing college student Sudiksha Konanki​

Interpol issues global alert in search for missing college student Sudiksha Konanki

International agencies are intensifying the search for Sudiksha Konanki, 20, one week after she went missing from a beach in the Dominican Republic.

eu.usatoday.com

View Yellow Notices

View and search public Yellow Notices for missing persons

www.interpol.int

Yellow notices are typically issued in cases of unexplained disappearances

the Hotel Riu Republica, where Konanki was a guest, told People that a "red flag was placed on the beach" around the time that she vanished. The resort says the red flag provides a warning that "the sea had a strong current and very high waves."

Search for Sudiksha Konanki: Man believed to be last person to see missing Pittsburgh student in Punta Cana returns to U.S.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic have been searching by land, air and water for Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared on March 6 during a spring break trip in Punta Cana.

www.yahoo.com

I was just coming to mention this. Interpol issuing a global alert and saying Riibe is NOT a suspect. What is going on here?

 

[CityKid]

Seems like some stakeholders are looking to victim blame as well. Unreal:

Dominican politician makes shock remark about missing American student

Sudiksha Konanki vanished in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search and investigation in and around the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana.

www.dailymail.co.uk

A Dominican senator desperate to retain tourism said that missing American student Sudiksha Konanki had it coming when she vanished in a shocking on-air rant.

***

'There was obviously a red flag on the beach. What were those young people looking for with a red flag at four in the morning on the beach? A red flag means everywhere, the world knows this: don't go to the beach.'

***

She went on to criticize media outlets reporting Konanki's disappearance, insisting they are instead 'trying to discredit the destination.

'We have many enemies, and any little thing that happens here - how many people, how many things haven't happened to tourists in different parts of the world?'

In a direct plea to social media networks in the Dominican Republic, Bournigal warned them to 'be careful' about what they are posting.

'Be careful with that. Be careful. Let's all be careful. The Dominican Republic, today, it's a safe island.

Ya know, I accept that almost anywhere one travels in the world, there's a chance they could be a victim of an accident or a crime. But I can't accept someone who works in tourism dismissing a discussion of this tragedy and blaming the victim. Her attitude would make me remove the DR as a possible tourist destination simply because if something were to happen to me there, I couldn't bear any of my family or friends hearing my life discussed like this.

 

[NoviceCrimeWatcher]

dbm

I agree with you. If they really left it in the room, that’s likely what caused their concern. After returning from their day trip, they noticed she hadn’t picked up her phone.

 

[NoviceCrimeWatcher]

After reading about this for several days, considering everything, etc., I'm starting to strongly speculate (JMO) that the answer lies somewhere in the middle.. maybe JR didn't have the intent to hurt or kill K, but while he was puking on the beach/passing out, he saw her struggling in the water and didn't have the wherewithal to help. Then he was maybe in and out of consciousness/sleep sort of knowing what happened. Then he wakes up at 9am in the hot sun and it all floods back to him, he goes back to the hotel scared, hoping it was a bad dream, but realizing it wasn't and is in shock. Lies to himself that K must have gotten out and went back to the hotel, but is too scared to find out. Too dumb to realize him not saying anything looks worse... Telling the truth from the beginning would have been the thing to do. (As an aside, how LE questioned him may have had an effect on how he told the story).

Unless there is corroborated evidence that LE isn't sharing of JR trying to find K afterwards, asking hotel staff, finding her friends, I believe at least the above happened, if not worse.

If LE can't corroborate his multiple versions of events and there's no evidence of him trying to find out what happened to her, then I think think that keeps the suspicion very heavy on him, but little ability to actually charge him with a crime, and an uncertainty of his level of intent.

If I remember correctly, the group had been together at a club at the hotel prior to walking to the beach (as shown on the surveillance footage). If that's accurate, I'm thinking they likely talked about their plans for the next day's excursion. If he knew about those plans, in his mind, there would be no cause for concern until the girls returned from their trip that afternoon (which I think is when the girls reported her missing).