Missing Indian Student Sudiksha Konanki: Why Her Parents Are Seeking a Declaration of Death

Missing Indian Student Sudiksha Konanki: The parents of Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old Indian student who has gone missing, have asked for a declaration of her death in the Dominican Republic as PTI quoted reports in US media.

Konanki was last reported missing on March 6 from the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

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US federal law enforcement agencies are working alongside authorities in the Dominican Republic concerning the investigation of her disappearance.

Diego Pesqueira, the spokesperson for the Dominican Republic National Police, said that the Indian student's family sent the agency a letter requesting a declaration of death.

According to the New York Post, the Konanki family wrote to authorities that their daughter's presumed death after she disappeared from a Punta Cana beach early on the morning of March 6 did not involve foul play, ABC News reported.

The father and mother also included in their note that they trust the authorities' probe into the case and noted Joshua Riibe, the last person to see the young woman alive, who has already cooperated with the investigators.

Konanki's parents in the same letter clarified that they understood that certain legal procedures must be considered for their request, but they were willing to comply with any required formalities or documents, ABC News quoted s in a report.

As her father described, Sudiksha was an "ambitious" student and had plans to study medicine. She reached Punta Cana on March 3, brought by five other fellow students at the University of Pittsburgh, Loudon County Sheriff's Office revealed.

According to the news from CNN, Dominican authorities seized the passport of Joshua Steven Riibe, the only person known to have spent time with Konanki.

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Dominican Republic Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso interviewed Riibe, over the weekend for more than six hours; the questioning is expected to continue with a local prosecutor.

Riibe does not fall under the classification of suspect nor has any charge been leveled against him regarding the act.

At this time, it is unspecified why the passport of Riibe had been confiscated. Since the time of disappearance of Konanki in the early hours of March 6, Riibe has been under police watch in the Dominican Republic himself-a 22-year-old from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and also a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

His parents said in a statement that he has been taken to the police station several times under interrogation by authorities.

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