Authorities in the Dominican Republic are searching for 20-year-old Indian-origin student Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing while on a spring break trip with classmates.
According to the New York Post, the University of Pittsburgh student was reported missing on Thursday while traveling with a group in the resort town of Punta Cana.
Officials say she disappeared while walking on the beach and has not been seen or heard from since.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office confirmed the case, stating, "Our office was contacted on Thursday evening about a missing female from Loudoun County who was with a group traveling in the Dominican Republic, specifically Punta Cana."
Local officials reported that Konanki was last seen walking on the beach in a bikini. A missing person’s poster describes her as 5 feet 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes.
At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a brown bikini, large round earrings, a metal designer anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right hand, and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left hand.
The University of Pittsburgh has pledged its support to the search efforts.
"University officials are in contact with Sudiksha Konanki's family as well as authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia, and we have offered our full support in their efforts to find her and bring her home safely," said university spokesperson Jared Stonesifer.
The Dominican Republic's Defensa Civil, a search and rescue team, began their search on Saturday evening but suspended it at 8 PM. They confirmed that efforts to locate Konanki would resume on Sunday.
Konanki is expected to graduate in 2026 from the University of Pittsburgh, though her major remains unclear.
She previously attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.