The heartbreaking reason why the parents of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki have requested that Dominican Republic authorities declare their daughter dead has been revealed.
The 20-year-old pre-med student from Virginia was last seen in the early hours of March 6 at the Riu República Hotel & Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, while on a spring break trip with friends.
Surveillance footage shows Konanki and her friends drinking in the hotel lobby before heading to the beach around 4:15AM with two men. By 4:55AM, her friends and one of the men had returned to the hotel, leaving her alone with 22-year-old Joshua Riibe.
Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, was also vacationing in Punta Cana at the time of Konanki’s disappearance. He was initially labeled as a person of interest by authorities as he may have been the last person to see her alive.
He was kept under police surveillance and had his passport confiscated. But on Wednesday (March 19), prosecutors agreed to return Riibe's travel documents, allowing him to return to the U.S. with his father.
Last week, Konanki’s grieving parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi, took the heartbreaking step of formally asking Dominican authorities to declare their daughter legally dead.
Though the circumstances of her disappearance remain unresolved, the motive behind their request was detailed in a letter addressed to Dominican officials and obtained by CNN.
In it, they explain that investigators also believe their daughter drowned, and no evidence suggests foul play has been found. With that in mind, they are asking authorities to “proceed with the legal declaration of her death".
“We understand that certain legal procedures must be followed and are prepared to comply with any necessary formalities or documentation," they wrote.
The family says they want to begin mourning and address all the painful realities of her absence. “We still have two young children to care for, and they are at a very tender age. In light of this, we respectfully request some space, time, and privacy to focus on healing us and helping our children recover as we try to move forward with our lives," they added.
According to personal injury and criminal defense attorney Phillip DiLucente, such a declaration could help the family begin the process of closure, while also allowing them to open an estate and have a will administered.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where the Konanki family lives, is backing the request, but ultimately, the decision lies in the hands of Dominican authorities.
“That still does not confirm exactly what happened and we may never know with certainty,” Sheriff’s spokesperson Thomas Julia told CNN, “but Sheriff (Mike) Chapman believes the investigation in the DR should be completed before the case is closed."
Still, Dominican law traditionally requires either a body or proof of a crime before someone is legally declared dead.
Dominican attorney Julio Cury explained that unless one of those criteria is met, Congress or the country’s president would need to enact a special law to make such a declaration.