PUNTA CANA (NYP) — A bikini-clad University of Pittsburgh student was seen smiling in a haunting picture at her resort in the Dominican Republic while on spring break — just before she went missing while wearing the same distinctive swimsuit.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, who is from an upscale suburb of Washington, DC, vanished after “walking on the beach” in the popular resort town of Punta Cana, authorities said.
She was last seen around 4:50 a.m. last Thursday at the Riu Republica Resort beach.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, is pictured in the brown bikini she was wearing when she vanished, according to authorities.
Konanki was also wearing a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist, yellow and steel bracelets on her right arm, an anklet on her right leg, and large round earrings.
A missing persons posters describe her as 5-foot-3 tall with brown eyes and black hair.
She is an Indian national based in Chantilly, Virginia, and she was on the Caribbean island with five friends from the University of Pittsburgh, Fox 32 reported.
Konanki was last seen just before 5 a.m. on Thursday, March 6 on a Punta Cana beach (TikTok / @sudikshakonanki)
The Indian embassy is working in with officials from Loudoun County, Virginia, and multiple Dominican Republic agencies as part of the search effort.
University of Pittsburgh officials are also coordinating with Konanki’s family.
“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,” the school said in a statement.
Konanki is an Indian national who was studying at the University of Pittsburgh. (TikTok / @ananyachilakamarri )
Other photos from the scenic beach showed searchers in orange shirts and vests combing the white sands for and signs of Konanki or evidence of what might have happened to her.
Drones and military choppers have also been employed in the search, Dominican outlet La Republica reported. Video from the beach show the craft soaring low over the clear water off the coast.
By ALEX OLIVEIRA and JORGE FITZ-GIBBON/New York Post