The mother and father of Sudiksha Konanki, the 20-year-old school pupil who went lacking throughout a spring break journey to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, mentioned they’d come to phrases with the chance she had drowned, and requested for privateness to mourn her, in keeping with officers and an announcement to the media on Tuesday.
Their sorrowful assertion got here greater than every week after her disappearance on March 6 grabbed headlines around the globe, and led to repeated questioning of the final individual seen along with her.
“Sudiksha’s household has expressed their perception that she drowned,” the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace in Virginia mentioned in a statement on Tuesday. “Whereas a ultimate resolution to make such a declaration rests with authorities within the Dominican Republic, we are going to help the Konanki household in each manner attainable” whereas persevering with to assessment the proof, the workplace mentioned.
In a tearful Fox 5 DC video shared on-line, Ms. Konanki’s father mentioned that they’d accepted “that our daughter has drowned” and that this conclusion was “extremely troublesome for us to course of.” Her mom sobbed as he learn the assertion. Additionally they requested for “time and privateness to give attention to therapeutic” and their household, NBC4 Washington reported.
Ms. Konanki, a College of Pittsburgh pupil from Loudoun County was final seen practically two weeks in the past. She was noticed within the early morning hours of March 6 at a seashore in Punta Cana with an unnamed pal who was “underneath investigation,” according to the authorities within the Dominican Republic.
The person, who was not named by The New York Occasions as a result of he had not been charged with a criminal offense, was current at a court hearing within the Dominican metropolis of Higüey on Tuesday, however the final result of the continuing had not but been disclosed by the authorities.
Through the continuing, the decide granted the person’s request to have the ability to transfer about freely and with out police supervision.
Ms. Konanki stayed on the Resort Riu Republica in Punta Cana with 5 mates after arriving within the Dominican Republic on March 3, the police mentioned. Her disappearance sparked an enormous search within the Caribbean nation, which is closely depending on overseas tourism.
When the US Embassy within the Dominican Republic alerted the nationwide police that Ms. Konanki had disappeared, officers started an exhaustive search of the seashore and the encompassing space, utilizing drones, helicopters, divers, boats, police canine and different assets, the authorities mentioned.
Greater than 300 brokers have been trying to find Ms. Konanki, the police mentioned. The F.B.I. has been aiding within the investigation, in keeping with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace.
Hogla Enecia Pérez contributed reporting from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
