'Declare our daughter dead': Parents of missing PIO student Sudhiksha Konanki in Dominican Republic plead for closure

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A 12-day search for 20-year-old Sudhiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic ended tragically as her parents requested authorities to declare her dead. The search efforts involved land, water, and air operations. Emotional and physical tolls on Sudhiksha’s younger siblings and the family led to this heartbreaking decision.

VIJAYAWADA: After a massive search on land, water, and air turned futile even after 12 days, the parents of 20-year-old Sudhiksha Konanki, Subbarayudu and Sridevi, finally gave up hope of their daughter returning alive.

They wrote a letter to the Dominican Republic authorities, asking them to declare their daughter ‘dead’.

It was a tough call for them to make as they had to look after their twin children, younger than Sudhiksha. “In fact, it was Sudhiksha who raised her siblings. She was like a second mother to them.

The kids couldn’t take the tragedy and fell ill. As parents, it was very traumatic for Subbarayudu and Sridevi,” said Krishna Duddukuri, who lives in Punta Cana. Krishna helped Subbarayudu and his wife coordinate with the Dominican Republic authorities in the search operation.

‘Declaration will help us to honour her memory’

As the hopes of finding Sudhiksha alive became next to impossible, they decided to bring some closure for themselves and move on, said Krishna.

Subbarayudu hailed from Rajampet in Kadapa district and moved to the US in 2006, where he has been living since. Sudhiksha, a pre-medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, went to the Dominican Republic on a spring break with five of her friends.

On the night of Mar 6, she was with two of her friends and one Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old man from Iowa, whom she met at the same resort.

Based on the surveillance footage, it was Riibe who saw her last. He was questioned multiple times by the local police, the FBI, and other agencies involved in the search operation. He was not named as a suspect. Riibe claimed that he tried to save her from a big tide that swept them away but did not see her after that, as he passed out and fell unconscious. Sudhiksha’s friends reported her missing the next day, following which a massive search operation was launched.

Multiple agencies, including the FBI and DEA, joined the search along with the Dominican Republic police and armed forces. But the search so far could not find any details except her clothes, a white netted sarong she was seen wearing before she went missing, and footwear near a beach bed.

Given that the intense search operation did not yield any results, and the man who was last seen with her was cooperating with the investigation, and no evidence of foul play was found, the parents finally took the call to request the police to proceed with the legal declaration of her death.

“We understand that certain legal procedures must be followed and are prepared to comply with any necessary formalities or documentation,” they stated in the letter addressed to the officer in charge, signed by both Subbarayudu and Sridevi.

“Initiating this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence. While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honour her memory,” they stated in the letter while appreciating the support of the authorities.

Krishna said that though the parents decided to declare her dead, the search operation is still ongoing. “I have seen many instances of drowning deaths in the last ten years, but I have never seen a search operation of this massive scale. They have now pressed underwater radars into action, and I really hope they will find something sooner rather than later,” he said.

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