The parents of Sudiksha Konanki, the University of Pittsburgh student who went missing from the Dominican Republic on March 6, have spoken out after telling authorities to declare their daughter dead.

Their statement comes after they sent a letter to La Policia Nacional, the Dominican national police force, on Monday stating that “Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned.”

“Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident,” Subbarayudu Konanki, Sudiksha’s father, told reporters on Tuesday, adding that her death has been “difficult to process.”

Sudiksha Konanki was reported missing on March 6 from the resort where she was staying in Punta Cana. It was later revealed that the 20-year-old college student went swimming during a red-flag warning with a male hotel guest, who is considered a witness in Konanki’s disappearance but not a suspect or person of interest.

Local authorities search for missing US student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was last seen on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic on March 6, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)

“While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, 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,” the sheriff’s office said.

Ribbe, who is believed to be one of the last people seen with Konanki, had a hearing Tuesday concerning his writ of habeas corpus, or his challenge to the Dominican Republic’s decision to confiscate his passport and hold him in the country since March 6.

People enjoy time on the beach at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)

A judge ultimately agreed with Riibe that he had been unlawfully detained, and he has another hearing scheduled for March 28. It was not immediately clear when he might be able to leave the Dominican Republic.

Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota who has not been accused of a crime but is considered a crucial witness in the case, had been held under surveillance at the resort since Konanki was reported missing.

His family has called his continued required presence in the country “irregular.”

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz, Mara Robles and Nate Foy contributed to this report.