The parents of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki have asked for Dominican authorities to declare their daughter dead. Their request highlights the heartbreaking realities of losing a child and handling the legalities of a missing person case.

It's a phenomenon experienced by the families of missing people when a body is never found, experts say: grief without certainty.

As students returned to the picturesque University of Pittsburgh campus after spring break, one student was noticeably missing. Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old pre-medical student, vanished over a week ago and has yet to be found.