A private investigator who aided Natalee Holloway's family is now offering help in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki. TJ Ward, who worked on the Holloway disappearance in Aruba 20 years ago, suspects Konanki was abducted.
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Ward contacted Konanki's family late Monday, he told NewsNation. He aims to assist in locating the 20-year-old, who vanished in the Dominican Republic.
"I don't think she drowned in the ocean," Ward said on Fox News, via the New York Post. He doubts drowning fits the evidence.
"Somebody knows something," Ward said. "Either they know where she is, or someone took her, or she's being held." Local authorities believe Konanki drowned, noting she was last seen on a beach around 4 a.m. with a young man after a night out. Ward disagrees. "If she drowned, the tide would've brought her ashore," he argued.
Konanki's case echoes Holloway's. Both were young women vacationing with peers at Caribbean resorts. Both disappeared on beaches after late nights. Holloway's fate emerged last year when Joran van der Sloot confessed to her murder. Ward sees patterns. "Young people flock to these islands for drinking and partying," he said. "They don't grasp the risks -- assaults, kidnappings."
"There's danger at night," Ward added. "Being alone at 4:30 a.m. in an unfamiliar country is risky. You need groups for safety."
Holloway Case Adds Clues
Dominican officials suggest Konanki, a pre-med student, drowned after entering the ocean in a brown bikini. Her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, challenges this. He filed a complaint Monday, pushing for a wider search. He suspects kidnapping since her body hasn't surfaced.
Ward supports the family's fears. "Drowning's the last thing I'd consider," he told Fox News. He draws from Holloway's case, where answers took years. Konanki vanished March 6 from Punta Cana's Riu Republica resort during spring break. Surveillance shows her with friends and a man heading to the beach. Her friends returned; she didn't.
Authorities search by land, air, and sea. The FBI and U.S. officials are assisting.
Ward insists there is a dark possibility. "Bad people roam at night," he warned. "She shouldn't have been alone."
