Missing American student in Dominican: former US ambassador issues warning

FIRST ON FOX — Former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Robin Bernstein, who served between 2018 and 2021, has a warning for spring breakers in light of the disappearance of American college student Sudiksha Konanki from Punta Cana on March 6.

Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh junior from Loudoun County, Virginia, was last seen walking on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort, where she was staying with five female friends, in the early morning hours of March 6. She has yet to be located.

“My feeling is that the Dominican Republic is still a safe place to be, and unfortunately, people, when they go on spring break or if they go on vacation, they do things that they normally wouldn’t do at home,” Berstein told Fox News Digital. “Sometimes they don’t make the best decisions. We have always told people to go out in groups, stay in groups, kind of have a wingman.”

She also said she “would not advise anybody to walk alone on a beach anywhere, actually, whether it be Miami Beach, Chicago, Mexico.”

MISSING AMERICAN IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: NO SUSPECTS AS SEARCH FOR SUDIKSHA KONANKI REACHES ONE WEEK

Bernstein believes Dominican Republic law enforcement officials are “great” and will work well with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, which are also involved in the search for Konanki, according to the Dominican Republic prosecutor’s office.

“The Dominican Republic is doing everything it can to help bring this to a resolution. The Dominicans really just move with lightning speed.”

— Robin Bernstein

“I think it’s just unfortunate that no one notified anyone until it was … much later in the day, that she was missing,” Bernstein said.

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U.S. college student Sudiksha Konanki went missing while on vacation with her friends in Punta Cana on March 6, 2025. (Fox News Graphics)

Konanki went to a…