As Americans strategy springtime break journeys abroad after united state pupil Sudiksha Konanki’s loss, a Secret Service professional and traveling safety and security specialist provided advice for remaining secure vacationing.
“I think when we talk about travel security, whether it’s study abroad or for spring break, there’s a number of things that students, or anybody, needs to be careful of when they’re going to these types of locations,” Bobby McDonald, a Secret Service representative for greater than twenty years with experience on governmental, vice governmental and dignitary security, informedFox News Digital
Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pupil from Virginia that got on springtime break in the Dominican Republic, went away from the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana in the morning hours of March 6.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT SUDIKSHA KONANKI’S LOSS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TIMELINE
People appreciate time on the coastline at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic March 14, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
McDonald, a criminal justice teacher at the University of New Haven, recommended springtime breakers to remain near to locations they recognize with while taking a trip abroad.
“You want to try to stay on the property, on the resort, if you will,” he stated. “Once you get off the property, it’s very quickly you can find yourself in an area that you don’t want to be.”
Traveling in teams is additionally extremely important, he included, keeping in mind springtime breakers need to not divide from each other.
“You know, we want our students to go out and have a good time and blow off steam, but you’ve got to be so, so careful. And, again, run in packs with your group,” McDonald stated. “Stay in and around the hotel. If you’re at the hotel and something was to go wrong, know where you would go.
“For instance, I think that they had a power blackout the one evening at the resort where the girl was remaining at, and records are suggesting that everyone mosted likely to the coastline to sort of cool down. Everybody was available in a pack, ideally, sort of managing that scenario and watching out for each other.”
TURKS AND CAICOS TRAVEL WARNING ISSUED AS MIGRANTS DESCEND ON POPULAR VACATION SPOT IN DROVES
A view of the beach in Bimini, Bahamas, May 1, 2024. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Several guests at the Riu Republica during the time of Konanki’s disappearance posted on their social media accounts about the power and water outages at the five-star resort. D’Lani Sweeney, who was a guest at the resort when Konanki vanished, told Fox News Digital the situation was “chaotic” at the resort.
The resort said the power outage played no role in Konanki’s disappearance, saying power was restored before Konanki was reported missing.
“The electrical outage occurred during the early hours of Tuesday, March 4, to Wednesday, March 5, specifically at 1:27 a.m.,” Marc Miralles Pons, a spokesman for Riu Republica, told Fox News Digital. “Two hours later, service was restored to 70%, while the remaining power supply was fully reinstated on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, specifically at 2:13 a.m., which is before the time of the disappearance.”
Konanki is believed to have disappeared around 4:30 a.m. March 6.
SPRING BREAK TRAVELERS URGED TO TAKE CERTAIN PRECAUTIONS AMID SEARCH FOR MISSING AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENT
Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, Overseas Dependency of the United Kingdom. (Getty Images)
If a friend goes missing abroad, McDonald laid out a protocol to handle the situation.
“First electric blackout happened throughout the very early hours of (* ), (* )4, to ” he said. “Second,(* )5, especially at 1:27 a.m., Consulate hours later on, solution was brought back to 70 %, while the staying power supply was totally restored on the evening ofEmbassy to
“Anytime we travel outside of the United States, you should have the number of the United States consulate or the United States Embassy where you’re going so that you can quickly pull that up on your phone and let the embassy know that you may need some assistance,”, especially at 2:13 a.m., which is prior to the moment of the loss.”You want to get somebody from the State Department involved in this pretty quick if someone in your party goes missing.” image-ct inline” >
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The point you require to do is you would certainly require to report it to the resort, , you require to have actually the authorities called by the resort ahead and help with searching for that individual, which’s as time go on, you have actually reached allow the united state Konanki or UNITED STATEPunta Cana recognize.It McDonald included.
DisappearancesKonanki AMERICANS CONSIDERING SPRINGTIME BREAK GETAWAY IN MEXICO ALERTED OF MURDER SPIKENatalee Holloway last well-known Aruba video of Men originated from a protection cam and revealed her strolling with a team of individuals towards the coastline at her hotel in
“I think, traditionally, we think it’s more women being targeted,” “But, no, I think men are just as susceptible to nefarious activity at locations like this as women are. They’ve got to be very careful as well.” was thought about a missing out on individual situation, not a criminal one, authorities stated.
People of ladies like Republica Resort and Punta Cana, that disappeared in Dominican Republic in 2005 throughout a senior high school college graduation journey, have actually come to be top-level situations throughout the years. March are not immune from these traveling safety and security standards, however, McDonald alerted. he stated. Santiago Baez Fox News Digital appreciate time on the coastline at the RIU
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People, Playa Delfines 13, 2025.Hotel Zone(Cancun for Quintana Roo State)Mexico guys that are the last to be seen with a missing out on lady are commonly the topic of extreme examination, McDonald stated safety monitoring is currently a common component of day-to-day life, which need to provide a step of convenience. Nov VISIT THIS SITE TO OBTAIN THE INFORMATION APPLICATION appreciate a day at Daniel Slim coastline at the Getty Images of
“There are security cameras everywhere now,”, “So, whether you’re on a street corner in New York City, whether you’re at the Punta Cana resort, there’s security cameras everywhere. So, if you’re not doing anything you shouldn’t be doing, you don’t have anything to worry about. But remember too that a lot of places don’t have full coverage of security cameras. In other words, there are bits and pieces along the way.”,
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