The parents of American student Sudiksha Konanki, have demanded that the Dominican authorities declare their 20-year-old daughter dead, even though her body was never found, The Post reported.
Subbarayudu and SreeDevi Konanki, parents of the University of Pittsburgh student, wrote to local authorities on Monday night asking them to “respectfully request the legal declaration of our beloved daughter,” according to a report obtained by Fox News.
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“After an exhaustive search, the Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned,” they wrote, noting that her clothing was found “on the beach where she was last seen” on March 6.
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The parents also suggested that authorities stop investigating Joshua Riibe, the Iowa student who said he last saw their daughter while kissing her in the water before passing out drunk on the beach.
“The person last seen with her is cooperating with the investigation and no evidence of foul play has been found,” they wrote, although they never mentioned Riibe’s name.
“Given these circumstances, and after lengthy deliberation, we request that the police department proceed with the legal declaration of his death,” the letter said.
Starting this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to his absence. While no statement can truly alleviate our pain, we trust that this step will allow us to close the chapter and honor his memory.
The request came on the same day that a lawyer for Riibe pushed for his client to be released from police surveillance.
While authorities have described him as a “person of interest”, he has never been charged with any crime during the high-profile investigation.
“If you want to leave the hotel, you can’t do it freely, but with the police,” lawyer Beatriz Santana told ABC News. “His passport was confiscated despite not having been officially charged.”
Local authorities initially claimed they believed Konanki had drowned in the ocean, but later clarified that they were not ruling out a crime after her family previously expressed fear that she may have been abducted.
Riibe said he and Konanki jumped into the ocean in front of the hotel where they were staying before encountering heavy surf.
He said he passed out shortly afterwards and Konanki, an Indian national now living in Northern Virginia, was nowhere to be seen when he woke up.
Sudiksha’s body has not been found.
Surveillance footage captured the couple at a bar with friends at the Riu Republica hotel, where they were both staying. They were also seen arm in arm before their disappearance.
They met shortly after Konanki arrived in Punta Cana in the first few days of March.