The family of Sudiksha Konanki, the University of Pittsburgh student who went missing while on spring break in the Dominican Republic, is still trying to accept her death.

In a heartbreaking development, the parents of missing Indian-American student Sudiksha Konanki have asked Dominican authorities to formally declare her dead, saying they have accepted the ‘deeply painful’ reality.

Sudiksha Konanki's parents told authorities in the Dominican Republic that they accept the story of witness Joshua Riibe and believe she is likely dead after vanishing from a beach.

Sudiksha Konanki's parents said Dominican Republic 'authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned'

The State Department has confirmed it is assisting in the search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, whom authorities believed drowned on March 6.

Joshua Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud University in Minnesota who is believed to be the last person to see missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic, has left t