Americans traveling abroad on spring break should know 3 crucial things to stay safe: expert

As Americans program outpouring interruption trips overseas aft U.S. pupil Sudiksha Konanki's disappearance, a Secret Service seasoned and question information adept offered guidance for staying harmless connected vacation.  

"I deliberation erstwhile we speech astir question security, whether it's survey overseas oregon for outpouring break, there's a fig of things that students, oregon anybody, needs to beryllium cautious of erstwhile they're going to these types of locations," Bobby McDonald, a Secret Service cause for much than 20 years with acquisition connected presidential, vice statesmanlike and dignitary protection, told Fox News Digital. 

Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pupil from Virginia who was connected outpouring interruption successful the Dominican Republic, disappeared from the Riu Republica Resort successful Punta Cana successful the aboriginal greeting hours of March 6.  

AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENT SUDIKSHA KONANKI’S DISAPPEARANCE IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TIMELINE

People bask clip connected the formation astatine the RIU Republica Resort successful Punta Cana, Dominican Republic March 14, 2025. (Fox News Digital)

McDonald, a transgression justness prof astatine the University of New Haven, advised outpouring breakers to enactment adjacent to areas they are acquainted with portion traveling abroad. 

"You privation to effort to enactment connected the property, connected the resort, if you will," helium said. "Once you get disconnected the property, it's precise rapidly you tin find yourself successful an country that you don't privation to be." 

Traveling successful groups is besides paramount, helium added, noting outpouring breakers should not abstracted from 1 another.  

"You know, we privation our students to spell retired and person a bully clip and stroke disconnected steam, but you've got to beryllium so, truthful careful. And, again, tally successful packs with your group," McDonald said. "Stay successful and astir the hotel. If you're astatine the edifice and thing was to spell wrong, cognize wherever you would go.

"For example, I judge that they had a powerfulness outage the 1 nighttime astatine the edifice wherever the young woman was staying at, and reports are indicating that everybody went to the formation to benignant of chill off. Everybody was retired determination successful a pack, hopefully, benignant of dealing with that concern and looking retired for 1 another." 

TURKS AND CAICOS TRAVEL WARNING ISSUED AS MIGRANTS DESCEND ON POPULAR VACATION SPOT IN DROVES

A presumption of the formation successful Bimini, Bahamas, May 1, 2024.   (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Several guests astatine the Riu Republica during the clip of Konanki’s disappearance posted connected their societal media accounts astir the powerfulness and h2o outages astatine the five-star resort. D’Lani Sweeney, who was a impermanent astatine the edifice erstwhile Konanki vanished, told Fox News Digital the concern was "chaotic" astatine the resort. 

The edifice said the powerfulness outage played nary relation successful Konanki’s disappearance, saying powerfulness was restored earlier Konanki was reported missing. 

"The electrical outage occurred during the aboriginal hours of Tuesday, March 4, to Wednesday, March 5, specifically astatine 1:27 a.m.," Marc Miralles Pons, a spokesperson for Riu Republica, told Fox News Digital. "Two hours later, work was restored to 70%, portion the remaining powerfulness proviso was afloat reinstated connected the nighttime of Wednesday to Thursday, specifically astatine 2:13 a.m., which is earlier the clip of the disappearance." 

Konanki is believed to person disappeared astir 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 person goes missing abroad, McDonald laid retired a protocol to grip the situation. 

"First happening you request to bash is you would request to study it to the hotel," helium said. "Second, you request to person the constabulary called by the edifice to travel and assistance with uncovering that person, and that's arsenic clip moves on, you've got to fto the U.S. Consulate oregon U.S. Embassy know.

"Anytime we question extracurricular of the United States, you should person the fig of the United States consulate oregon the United States Embassy wherever you're going truthful that you tin rapidly propulsion that up connected your telephone and fto the embassy cognize that you whitethorn request immoderate assistance," McDonald added. "You privation to get idiosyncratic from the State Department progressive successful this beauteous speedy if idiosyncratic successful your enactment goes missing."  

AMERICANS CONSIDERING SPRING BREAK VACATION IN MEXICO WARNED OF MURDER SPIKE

The past known footage of Konanki came from a information camera and showed her walking with a radical of radical toward the formation astatine her edifice successful Punta Cana. It was considered a missing idiosyncratic case, not a transgression one, authorities said.

Disappearances of women similar Konanki and Natalee Holloway, who vanished successful Aruba successful 2005 during a precocious schoolhouse graduation trip, person go high-profile cases implicit the years. Men are not immune from these question information guidelines, though, McDonald warned.

"I think, traditionally, we deliberation it's much women being targeted," helium said. "But, no, I deliberation men are conscionable arsenic susceptible to nefarious enactment astatine locations similar this arsenic women are. They've got to beryllium precise cautious arsenic well." 

People bask clip connected the formation astatine the RIU Republica Resort successful Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, March 13, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)

While men who are the past to beryllium seen with a missing pistillate are often the taxable of aggravated scrutiny, McDonald said information surveillance is present a prevalent portion of mundane life, which should springiness them a measurement of comfort. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

People bask a time astatine Playa Delfines formation astatine the Hotel Zone of Cancun, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, Nov. 8, 2022.  (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

"​​There are information cameras everyplace now," helium said. "So, whether you're connected a thoroughfare country successful New York City, whether you're astatine the Punta Cana resort, there's information cameras everywhere. So, if you're not doing thing you shouldn't beryllium doing, you don't person thing to interest about. But retrieve excessively that a batch of places don't person afloat sum of information cameras. In different words, determination are bits and pieces on the way."