A 24-year-old man is being questioned by police in the disappearance of a University of Pittsburgh student who was vacationing in the Dominican Republic during spring break.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, vanished on March 6 in Punta Cana, where she was vacationing at the Riu Republica Resort with five female college friends during spring break. The 5-foot-3 student was last seen at 4:50 a.m. local time on the beach of the resort.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in Virginia confirmed that Joshua Steven Ribe, 24, has been a person of interest for several days and is still in the Dominican Republic.
“We are aware and believe he is a U.S. citizen who met her there and believe he was at Riu also,” LCSO media relations and communications director Thomas A. Julia told NTD in a March 11 text message.
Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi, arrived in Punta Cana with two family friends on March 9, and filed a complaint asking the authorities to expand the search for their daughter.
Although Ribe is being questioned, the case is currently categorized as a missing person investigation and includes whether Ribe was the last person to have seen Konanki and if there was alcohol involved, Julia said.
“There is inconsistent information about this that is being sorted by the FBI and the Dominican Republic National Police,” he added. “The FBI has the lead role for U.S. law enforcement working directly with the Dominican Republic National Police.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) declined to comment except to say that the FBI may devote resources to investigations in foreign countries when an American citizen is missing.
“This international collaboration is always done with the consent of the host country and in cooperation with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State,” the FBI National Press Office said in an email on March 11.
LCSO was unable to confirm reports that Konanki’s clothing may have been found on or near the beach, and Civil Defense Director Juan Salas said the reports are untrue, according to the Associated Press.
The DOJ did not reply to requests for comment by publication time. The U.S. State Department’s press office declined to comment on March 11. However, the Dominican Republic National Police issued a statement.
“The Policía Nacional are re-interviewing targeted individuals who were in the victim’s proximity at the time of her disappearance,” the Dominican Republic National Police wrote. “This includes hotel employees where Konanki and her companions were staying, with the goal of gathering information to corroborate her movements, interactions, and any relevant details for the investigation.”
The Dominican President Luis Abinader said on Monday during his weekly press meeting that the safety of tourists is rarely an issue and that some 11 million tourists visit the Dominican Republic annually.
“We are concerned,” Abinader told reporters about Konanki’s disappearance. “All government agencies are searching … because the latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”
When last seen, Konanki was wearing a brown bikini, hoop earrings, a designer anklet on her right ankle, steel bracelets on her right wrist, and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist. She has not been heard from since.
