The Sheriff’s Office in missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki’s hometown is expressing their support for her family, after they asked she be declared dead.
The Loudoun County, Virginia Sheriff, Michael Chapman, said in a statement “we will support the Konanki family in every way possible as we continue to review the evidence and information made available to us in the course of this investigation.”
Chapman says the family believes that Konanki drowned while on spring break in Punta Cana.
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The decision to declare her deceased “rest with authorities in the Dominican Republic.”
The sheriff’s office say they will continue to support the Konanki family through investigation and emotional support.
Legal Expert weights in:
Why does the family want Konanki declared dead?
A criminal defense expert thinks the request from Sudiksha Konanki's father and mother is a strategic legal move:
“They want to full investigation to be turned into a homicide investigation,” Attorney Phil DiLucente speculated on The Marty Griffin Show.
While Joshua Riibe has not been named a suspect in Konanki's disappearance, officials did decide to seize his passport last weekend.
DiLucente said the parents may want law enforcement resources and capital directed entirely towards a criminal investigation, but that is just speculation.