Hotel horror stories emerge after American college student goes missing as resort insists no connection
Konanki, a 20-year-old Virginia resident, was seen for the last time after 4 a.m. on March 6, apparently walking on the beach outside the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, according to authorities and a flyer being circulated online.
Less than two hours before the University of Pittsburgh student disappeared, power was restored at the five-star, adults-only RIU Republica, where she was staying with five female friends, following an approximately 22-hour outage.
"[T]he electrical issue started on Wednesday [March] 5 at 1 AM. But the same was solved on Thursday [March] 6 at 3 AM, so when the guests went to the beach past 4 AM, the electricity had already recovered hours ago. So one thing has nothing to do with the other," RIU Hotels told Fox News Digital in a statement, presumably referring to Konanki's disappearance and the outage.
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The Dominican Republic, which is currently under a State Department Level 2 travel advisory and shares a border with Level 4 Haiti, experiences almost daily blackouts in certain areas that can last for more than 10 hours, according to the OPEC Fund for International Development.
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"Our commitment to the well-being and comfort of our guests is our priority, so we deeply regret the power failure that affected the Riu Republica Hotel last week," RIU Hotels said. "From the moment the problem was detected, in the early hours of Wednesday, March 5, until it was completely resolved in the early hours of Thursday, March 6, the hotel team worked tirelessly to resolve the problem rapidly and thus restore all services, which happened progressively during that period of time."
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The hotel parent company added that members of the RIU Republica's staff "have been doing their best to mitigate the inconveniences generated by this situation.
"Despite this, we are aware of the inconvenience that this event generated for the affected guests. For this reason, RIU has established a compensation policy that will apply to all those customers who process their claim through official channels, either directly with RIU Hotels or with the travel provider with whom they made their reservation," RIU Hotels said.
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Konanki was reportedly walking with a young man just before she vanished, La Policia Nacional, the country's national police force, said in a translated statement.
Several guests who spoke with Fox News Digital expressed their concerns with the power and water outage, as well as other safety concerns at the RIU Republica. Various recent Google reviews also complain about power and water issues.
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"I understand it's spring break, but this is terrible," Nick Musca said. "The water doesn't work. There was no power yesterday. This is terrible."
D'Lani Sweeney described her stay at the RIU Republica as "the spring break trip from Hell" on TikTok but noted that most staff members were very accommodating and tried to make guests comfortable when problems arose.
"People were staying out later by the pools or on the beach because they had no AC in their rooms," Sweeney told Fox News Digital. "It was so hot, and that's kind of the only way they could cool down or have any … relaxation at all. It just makes me a little bit mad and also … sad."
Sweeney described using bottled water to brush her teeth in her hotel room and using outlets in the hotel's lobby or gym to charge her phone. Due to the power outage, there was no Wi-Fi service in certain areas of the resort. People without international phone plans who were using Wi-Fi to contact people overseas had trouble connecting with friends or family to explain the situation, she said.
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Additionally, the resort had red flags on the beach to warn travelers about strong currents and big waves around the time of the outages.
"We could see the beach, and it was pitch black," Sweeney said of the beach at night. "We'd also been on the beach before, even when power was on, and there was a little trickle of light … so in a power outage, you can't see anything at all.
"There are no lights or lanterns or anything on the beach to kind of illuminate it to help someone if they are on the beach. When you go down there, you can't see anything. The only anything that you can see is just … pitch black — maybe a couple stars in the sky or lights from surrounding resorts farther down the beach. And then you can just only hear like the waves of the ocean."
A woman who stayed at a different RIU resort in Punta Cana about a week prior to Konanki's disappearance and opted to be identified by her first name, Woeser, said the resort felt safe overall, but she had similar trouble using power outlets and had one strange experience with a man who did not speak English at a club on the resort property.
"We were there sitting at the bar, and two guys came over to us. We were just talking," Woeser told Fox News Digital.
One of the men opted to communicate with Woeser and her friend using Google Translate on his phone. At one point, Woeser's friend said it was too loud and went outside to get some air. Woeser then went to use the bathroom.
When she got back to the bar, she forgot her friend had stepped outside and asked the man using Google Translate that she was speaking to previously if he knew where her friend went.
"On his Google Translate app, he was saying…'Oh, you're alone. You shouldn't be here. Let's go to the beach."
Woeser felt the comment was "suspicious" and recorded him, but her friend returned before they could say anything more to each other.
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The FBI and Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia are involved in the search for the missing Pitt student. All of the friends she traveled with have been accounted for.
"The ongoing investigation includes wide-ranging search efforts, along with a review of surveillance video and telephone records," the sheriff's office said in a Monday press release. "Interviews are also continuing with anyone who may have seen or been with Konanki before she went missing. The LCSO has filed for a Yellow Notice (worldwide police alert for a missing person) to be issued by INTERPOL."
The sheriff's office added that "[t]here has been considerable public speculation about what may have happened to Konanki and who may be involved."
"We caution anyone from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are committed to ensuring that a thorough investigation is conducted before any conclusions are reached," they said in a news release. "The LCSO is hopeful for the safe return of Sudiksha Konanki, and we are committed to supporting this investigation and her family in every way possible."
Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact the LCSO at 703-777-1021. To remain anonymous, call the Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.Original article source: Hotel horror stories emerge after American college student goes missing as resort insists no connection
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