New surveillance video has surfaced after a “person of interest” has been named in the case of Sudiksha Konanki, the Pitt student who went missing and disappeared while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.
A spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Konanki’s hometown in Virginia confirmed that 24-year-old Joshua Riibe, who had previously been questioned about her disappearance, has been named a ‘person of interest’ in the case.
The sheriff’s office said the case is considered a missing person investigation and is not a criminal case at this time.
Survillance video obtained by Noticias SIN, a Dominican media outlet, appears to show Konanki with her friends and two other men when they were walking to the beach in Punta Cana.
Konanki, 20, was on a spring break trip with friends in the Dominican tourist town and was reported missing later that day.
Authorities are searching on land and water for any signs of Konanki, who was last seen at the Riu Republica Hotel around 4 a.m. Thursday, March 6.
More than 300 people have become involved in the search efforts to find her and the Dominican Republic National Police have formed what is being called a new, “high-level commission” to oversee the case of Konanki.
The investigation also includes the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the FBI, and the International Liaison of the U.S. Embassy.
The sheriff’s office acknowledged there’s been “considerable public speculation” about what happened to Konanki but cautioned against drawing any conclusions.
“Everybody’s kind of working through this right now. There’s a lot of folks that are involved, so we want to make sure that before we put any information out, that we get it absolutely right,” Loudon County Sheriff Mike Chapman said.
Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance being investigated as an accident
Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, said on Monday evening that authorities are investigating the case as an accident.
Defensa Civil Dominicana
“We are concerned,” Abinader said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. “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.”
