Red Flag, No Warning? Resort Under Fire as Student Vanishes in Treacherous Waves in in Punta Cana
As the search for 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki stretches into its sixth day, a storm of questions brews around the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana. Resort officials told PEOPLE a red flag waved on the beach March 6, signaling “strong currents and very high waves” when Konanki vanished—but was it enough? D’Lani Sweeney, a fellow guest, says the Dominican retreat left visitors in the dark. “No announcements, no flyers—just a flag,” the 22-year-old Northeastern senior told PEOPLE, recalling waves towering up to six feet that day.
Konanki, last spotted on surveillance at 4:15 a.m. with friends heading to the beach, was chasing a carefree spring break when she disappeared. Her sarong was later found on a lounge chair, but Dominican police suspect drowning—a theory Loudoun County, Virginia, authorities challenge, naming 24-year-old Joshua Riibe a “person of interest” Wednesday. Sweeney, no stranger to island waters, skipped the swim, but worries first-timers like Konanki got no heads-up about the danger. Riu insists it’s “forbidden to enter the sea” under a red flag and claims full cooperation with the sprawling search, yet the mystery deepens: did the resort do enough to keep her safe?