The search for Sudiksha Konanki stretched into another day, according to authorities.
The University of Pittsburgh college student from Virginia was reported missing from the island’s east coast on March 7. She was last seen on March 6 while vacationing in the Dominican Republic with five other people during spring break.
At the time of Konanki’s disappearance, there was a power outage at the Hotel Riu República in the popular beach resort town of Punta Cana in the eastern part of the island country.
The Ministerio Publico, the country’s public prosecutor, said in a statement that several law enforcement agencies have been involved in her search, including the Dominican Republic National Police, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office while being supported by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI and HSI declined to comment.
Her Disappearance
The 21-year-old was last seen at the beach at 4:50 a.m. when she and other guests left the Riu Republica hotel during the power outage.
For currently unknown reasons, Konanki left her phone and wallet with her friends. She’s known to never part with her phone, according to her parents.
Facts About Sudiksha Konanki
Konanki, a citizen of India and a U.S. permanent resident, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology located in Alexandria, Virginia in 2022 and is due to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh in 2026, according to LinkedIn.Her parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, upon arriving in the Dominican Republic on March 9, asked to widen the investigation into her disappearance to include kidnapping or abduction.
They have since left the Dominican Republic for the United States where Konanki’s father met with Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman privately on March 12 in Virginia.
Male Friend Identified as ‘Person of Interest’
On March 13, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in Virginia confirmed that Joshua Steven Riibe, 24, remains a person of interest and said that he is not a suspect.“This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest,” LCS Officer Chad Quinn wrote in an email. “The term person of interest is one that we are using in collaboration with the FBI. I can’t speak to any designation the local police may give him or others.”
LCSO previously told NTD that Riibe is believed to also have been a guest at the Hotel Riu Republica hotel and that the pair met on-site. The Hotel Riu Republica is known as an adults-only, all-inclusive “party resort” located less than two miles away from the Cana Bay Golf Club, according to TripAdvisor.com and Booking.com.
“He is still in the [Dominican Republic] per the wishes of the Dominican police and remains a person of interest to our agency because he may be the last person who was with her before she went missing,” LCSO media relations and communications director Thomas A. Julia told NTD in a March 13 text message.
Riibe is currently enrolled as a student at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) in Minnesota, according to SCSU spokesperson Zach Dwyer, and he has attended the university since 2023.
Dwyer told NTD in a March 13 email that Riibe, who is a senior majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences, is from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and has never been a student-athlete at SCSU.
A Riibe family member said in a Facebook message that they are currently going through a difficult time.
Investigation Remains ‘Missing Person’ Case
There have been no arrest warrants as the investigation is not criminal, according to Julia.“This is still a missing person investigation,” he said.
Search Has Expanded to Sea
The Dominican President Luis Abinader said on Monday during his weekly press meeting that Riibe reportedly said that a wave, while he and Konanki were on the beach, crashed into them.The LCSO dispatched detectives to support the FBI in Punta Cana as it assisted the Dominican Republic National Police in its investigation.
Civil Defense spokesman Jensen Sánchez told the Associated Press that authorities have enlisted the help of drones, helicopters, and K9 units near the shore where Konanki was supposedly last seen.
A high-level joint task force was created to probe Konanki’s disappearance, according to a statement by the Attorney General of the Republic Yeni Berenice Reynoso. She said the prosecuting authority is conducting extensive investigative procedures and is exploring both accidental and intentional possibilities.
“We are using all available resources to conduct a thorough investigation,” Reynoso said in an email. “The young woman’s family, the Dominican public, and the U.S. community can rest assured that we will continue to pursue all investigative efforts until we obtain the answers that the authorities are duty-bound to provide.”
Reynoso added that search operations are happening in the areas of Uvero Alto-Macao, Macao-Playa Arena Gorda, and Cortecito-Playa Arena Gorda of the Republic.
