The Dominican Republic resort the place College of Pittsburgh scholar Sudiksha Konanki went lacking final week skilled a prolonged energy outage simply hours earlier than Konanki vanished, the resort firm and company informed Fox Information Digital.
Konanki, a 20-year-old Virginia resident, was seen for the final time after 4 a.m. on March 6, apparently strolling on the seaside outdoors the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, in accordance with authorities and a flyer being circulated on-line.
Lower than two hours earlier than the College of Pittsburgh scholar disappeared, energy was restored on the five-star, adults-only RIU Republica, the place she was staying with 5 feminine mates, following an roughly 22-hour outage.
“[T]he electrical challenge began on Wednesday [March] 5 at 1 AM. However the identical was solved on Thursday [March] 6 at 3 AM, so when the company went to the seaside previous 4 AM, the electrical energy had already recovered hours in the past. So one factor has nothing to do with the opposite,” RIU Lodges informed Fox Information Digital in an announcement, presumably referring to Konanki’s disappearance and the outage.
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The seaside space on the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy D’Lani Sweeney)
The Dominican Republic, which is at the moment underneath a State Division Degree 2 journey advisory and shares a border with Degree 4 Haiti, experiences nearly each day blackouts in sure areas that may final for greater than 10 hours, in accordance with the OPEC Fund for Worldwide Growth.
“Our dedication to the well-being and luxury of our company is our precedence, so we deeply remorse the ability failure that affected the Riu Republica Lodge final week,” RIU Lodges stated. “From the second the issue was detected, within the early hours of Wednesday, March 5, till it was utterly resolved within the early hours of Thursday, March 6, the resort workforce labored tirelessly to resolve the issue quickly and thus restore all companies, which occurred progressively throughout that time frame.”
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Sudiksha Konanki in a Fb selfie photograph. 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)
The resort guardian firm added that members of the RIU Republica’s employees “have been doing their finest to mitigate the inconveniences generated by this case.
“Regardless of this, we’re conscious of the inconvenience that this occasion generated for the affected company. Because of this, RIU has established a compensation coverage that may apply to all these prospects who course of their declare by official channels, both instantly with RIU Lodges or with the journey supplier with whom they made their reservation,” RIU Lodges stated.
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A walkway on the RIU Republica resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy D’Lani Sweeney)
Konanki was reportedly strolling with a younger man simply earlier than she vanished, La Policia Nacional, the nation’s nationwide police power, stated in a translated assertion.
A number of company who spoke with Fox Information Digital expressed their considerations with the ability and water outage, in addition to different security considerations on the RIU Republica. Varied latest Google evaluations additionally complain about energy and water points.
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Navy personnel seek for Sudiksha Konanki, a College of Pittsburgh scholar from the U.S. who disappeared on a seaside in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photograph/Francesco Spotorno)
“I perceive it’s spring break, however that is horrible,” Nick Musca stated. “The water doesn’t work. There was no energy yesterday. That is horrible.”
D’Lani Sweeney described her keep on the RIU Republica as “the spring break journey from Hell” on TikTok however famous that almost all employees members have been very accommodating and tried to make company snug when issues arose.
“The evening that she did disappear was the evening that all the pieces was type of occurring and was so chaotic.”
“Individuals have been staying out later by the swimming pools or on the seaside as a result of they’d no AC of their rooms,” Sweeney informed Fox Information Digital. “It was so sizzling, and that is type of the one method they may quiet down or have any … rest in any respect. It simply makes me a bit of bit mad and likewise … unhappy.”
Sweeney described utilizing bottled water to brush her tooth in her resort room and utilizing retailers within the resort’s foyer or fitness center to cost her telephone. As a result of energy outage, there was no Wi-Fi service in sure areas of the resort. Individuals with out worldwide telephone plans who have been utilizing Wi-Fi to contact folks abroad had bother connecting with mates or household to clarify the scenario, she stated.
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Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Handout, left, and Defensa Civil Dominicana, proper.)
Moreover, the resort had purple flags on the seaside to warn vacationers about sturdy currents and large waves across the time of the outages.
“There aren’t any lights or lanterns or something on the seaside to type of illuminate it to assist somebody if they’re on the seaside.”
“We might see the seaside, and it was pitch black,” Sweeney stated of the seaside at evening. “We might additionally been on the seaside earlier than, even when energy was on, and there was a bit of trickle of sunshine … so in an influence outage, you may’t see something in any respect.
“There aren’t any lights or lanterns or something on the seaside to type of illuminate it to assist somebody if they’re on the seaside. Once you go down there, you may’t see something. The one something you can see is simply … pitch black — possibly a pair stars within the sky or lights from surrounding resorts farther down the seaside. After which you may simply solely hear just like the waves of the ocean.”
Exterior view of a police station at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Kirill Clark)
A girl who stayed at a distinct RIU resort in Punta Cana a couple of week previous to Konanki’s disappearance and opted to be recognized by her first title, Woeser, stated the resort felt secure total, however she had comparable bother utilizing energy retailers and had one unusual expertise with a person who didn’t communicate English at a membership on the resort property.
“We have been there sitting on the bar, and two guys came to visit to us. We have been simply speaking,” Woeser informed Fox Information Digital.
One of many males opted to speak with Woeser and her buddy utilizing Google Translate on his telephone. At one level, Woeser’s buddy stated it was too loud and went outdoors to get some air. Woeser then went to make use of the toilet.
When she acquired again to the bar, she forgot her buddy had stepped outdoors and requested the person utilizing Google Translate that she was chatting with beforehand if he knew the place her buddy went.
“On his Google Translate app, he was saying…’Oh, you are alone. You should not be right here. Let’s go to the seaside.”
The seaside space on the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy: D’Lani Sweeney)
Woeser felt the remark was “suspicious” and recorded him, however her buddy returned earlier than they may say something extra to one another.
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The FBI and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace in Virginia are concerned within the seek for the lacking Pitt scholar. The entire mates she traveled with have been accounted for.
“The continued investigation consists of wide-ranging search efforts, together with a evaluate of surveillance video and phone data,” the sheriff’s workplace stated in a Monday press launch. “Interviews are additionally persevering with with anybody who could have seen or been with Konanki earlier than she went lacking. The LCSO has filed for a Yellow Discover (worldwide police alert for a lacking particular person) to be issued by INTERPOL.”
One report recommended Konanki drowned within the ocean in Punta Cana after getting swept up by an enormous wave. (AP/Francesco Spotorno)
The sheriff’s workplace added that “[t]right here has been appreciable public hypothesis about what could have occurred to Konanki and who could also be concerned.”
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“We warning anybody from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are dedicated to making sure {that a} thorough investigation is performed earlier than any conclusions are reached,” they stated in a information launch. “The LCSO is eager for the secure return of Sudiksha Konanki, and we’re dedicated to supporting this investigation and her household in each method attainable.”
Authorities are asking anybody with info to contact the LCSO at 703-777-1021. To stay nameless, name the Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.
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