Missing Spring Breaker May Have Gotten Caught in Big Wave

The University of Pittsburgh student who vanished during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic may have gotten caught in a big wave. Authorities say Sudiksha Konanki, 20, had gone to a nightclub Wednesday night with a group of people who then visited a Punta Cana beach in the wee hours of Thursday, ABC News reports. While others from the group returned to their hotel just before 6am, Konanki stayed on the beach with a male, and the two went swimming. He told police they got caught in a big wave, but it's not clear what happened to Konanki after that.

The man told investigators he eventually returned to the beach, threw up, and then fell asleep on a beach bed. He says he didn't see Konanki when he woke up a few hours later and returned to his hotel. The clothes she'd been wearing were found on a beach bed. Three anonymous officials from the country previously said Konanki is believed to have drowned, but there has been no official confirmation of that theory, and the search continues. The FBI, the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican National Police, and the Dominican Prosecutor's office are all assisting, and the perimeter has been expanded, NBC News reports. Konanki is a citizen of India and a legal permanent US resident who hails from Virginia. (More missing woman stories.)