American school pupil lacking in Dominican Republic did not drown, Natalee Holloway personal eye believes

A 20-year-old College of Pittsburgh pupil who vanished from a five-star resort within the Dominican Republic seemingly did not drown on the seaside as some experiences have recommended, in accordance with the personal investigator who went to Aruba following the disappearance of Natalee Holloway underneath related circumstances in 2005.

Sudiksha Konanki, who was born in India however is a authorized everlasting U.S. resident from Virginia, was final seen coming into the seaside early Thursday morning on the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, in accordance with La Policia Nacional, the nation’s nationwide police pressure. She was with a good friend who’s at present underneath investigation, in accordance with a translation of a Spanish-language assertion.

“I do not suppose that she drowned within the ocean,” stated TJ Ward, the personal investigator who labored for Holloway’s mother and father after she vanished on a visit she went on with highschool classmates to have fun commencement. “I completely consider that someone is aware of one thing the place she is, or someone took her away, or someone’s holding her someplace.”

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Sudiksha Konanki in a Fb selfie picture. The 20-year-old College of Pittsburgh junior has been lacking since March 6, when she vanished throughout a spring break journey to a five-star resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha Konanki/Fb)

Her whereabouts stay unknown, however ABC Information reported Monday that she might have drowned, citing regulation enforcement sources.

Ward rejected that concept, and Dominican police have stated they’re investigating certainly one of Konanki’s buddies and seeking to corroborate claims from a “younger man” who was additionally within the water that night time. They’ve questioned a number of witnesses, together with her buddies.

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“If she had gone into the water, she would’ve washed up someplace with a tide the best way that comes into the island,” Ward stated.

Authorities have searched by land, air and sea, and he stated a physique within the water would seemingly have been found until somebody took her far offshore.

Konanki’s household can also be skeptical of experiences she might have drowned, in accordance with WTOP Information, a Washington-based outlet.

“It’s 4 days, and if she was in water, she would seemingly have been strewn to shore,” her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, instructed the outlet. “She’s not discovered, so we’re asking them to analyze a number of choices, like kidnapping or abduction.”

Sudiksha Konanki seems in an undated picture on her TikTok profile. She was final seen on March 6 at a resort seaside in Punta Cana. (@sudikshakonanki/TikTok)

In a grievance filed with Dominican authorities asking them to analyze a possible drowning in addition to the potential for kidnapping or foul play, the elder Konanki stated his daughter’s telephone and pockets have been left along with her buddies, which he stated was “uncommon,” in accordance with the outlet. 

Makes an attempt to succeed in him from Fox Information Digital have been unsuccessful Monday. 

Konanki was on a spring break journey to the Dominican Republic with 5 feminine classmates, authorities stated beforehand.

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She arrived on March 3 and was final seen round 4:15 a.m. on March 6, on surveillance video, headed onto the seaside along with her buddies, in accordance with native police. 

Konanki’s disappearance does share some similarities with Holloway’s. Each younger girls traveled to a Caribbean seaside resort with classmates. Each vanished on the seaside at night time, staying out late after their buddies went again to their respective accommodations. Holloway’s case got here to a grotesque conclusion final 12 months after a suspect, Joran van der Sloot, confessed to killing her almost 20 years after the very fact.  

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Joran van der Sloot was the prime suspect within the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway for almost 20 years. He lastly admitted to killing her after dealing with federal fees of attempting to exort her mom whereas serving a jail sentence in Peru for murdering one other younger girl, 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in 2010.  (Getty Photos, AP)

“They do not perceive journey in these different nations,” Ward stated of American college students who could also be drawn to the thought of going someplace they’ll legally drink underneath the age of 21. 

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“There’s issues there with assaults, kidnappings and so forth and so forth,” he instructed Fox Information Digital. “Younger individuals simply do not perceive the idea about what is going on on in these different nations, and so they suppose they’ll go away as a result of they’ll drink and social gathering and at a youthful age and get away with it and do issues that they could not do right here within the U.S.”

There are “main issues” within the Dominican Republic and different Caribbean nations, he stated.

In 2019, a minimum of 11 People died and 1000’s extra suffered meals poisoning within the nation, in accordance with Berkshire Hathaway Journey Safety. That very same 12 months, Boston Crimson Sox legend David Ortiz survived a nightclub taking pictures there.

“There’s unhealthy individuals out in the course of the night time, and I do not know why she was out at 4:30 within the morning, or the place her buddies have been, however you possibly can’t be by your self like that, strolling in a rustic that you realize nothing about,” Ward stated. “It is advisable to keep in teams and the place you are not going to be a goal.”

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“So they should perceive that there is main issues with individuals right here going to these nations on say, the spring break, as a result of they really feel they’ve the sources and be capable of have the luxurious and be capable of do what they wish to do with out being checked out,” he added. “And folks there are profiting from ladies, and there is unhealthy individuals on these islands, and so they must be checked out, and regulation enforcement is aware of it.”

Punta Cana on a map. (Google Maps)

Police have questioned a number of witnesses, together with her buddies and an unnamed “younger man” whose story they stated they have been seeking to corroborate.

Konanki is initially from India however is a authorized everlasting U.S. resident from Loudoun County, close to Washington, D.C., in accordance with authorities. She is 5 toes, 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. She was final seen sporting a brown bikini, hoop earrings, bracelets and an anklet. 

A spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace additionally instructed the Pittsburgh Submit-Gazette that the report that Konanki drowned could also be “primarily based on her final recognized location close to the seaside, however [there’s] no proof to help that conclusion right now.”

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Fox Information’ Greg Norman and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.