(NewsNation) — Interpol has issued an international alert for Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student who went missing during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic.
A yellow notice is typically issued for “unexplained disappearances,” according to Interpol. The notices are used to give “high, international visibility” to cases, and since abducted or missing people are flagged to border officials, it makes travel difficult.
Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent U.S. resident, was last seen at the Riu República Hotel, just north of Punta Cana in the La Altagracia district, around 4 a.m. on March 6. She was one of six female University of Pittsburgh students who traveled together for spring break on March 3.
Police say she disappeared at a beach near the hotel before dawn, after she and other guests had headed outside amid a power outage. The group was accompanied by two American men. Konanki stayed on the beach with one of the men while the rest of the group returned to the hotel.
The Dominican Civil Defense and a search-and-rescue unit have been working to locate Konanki. Drones, helicopters and detection dogs are also being used in the search.
Dominican police say they’ve been reinterviewing people who were with Konanki before she went missing. Investigators have been using drones, helicopters and detection dogs to search waters off the island’s east coast.
The public prosecutor’s office said Konanki’s friends have been interviewed.
Police also spoke with a man in his 20s who was allegedly at the beach around the same time as Konanki and may have been the last person to see her. NewsNation will not name the man unless he is named officially as a person of interest or a suspect in this case.
Authorities have not said there is any sign of foul play, and the leading theory among law enforcement is that she drowned. Konanki’s family is pushing investigators to consider the possibility she may have been abducted.
NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali contributed to this report.
