Person of interest identified in disappearance of US student in the Dominican Republic

Authorities have identified a person of interest in the case of a college student who went missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Caribbean island continue their search to find 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Konanki's hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with the student at a resort before she went missing, spokesperson Chad Quinn told USA TODAY. Though Konanki's father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, Quinn said the case is not a criminal investigation, so Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konanki's disappearance.

"This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest," Quinn added in an email to USA TODAY.

Konanki traveled to the island with five girlfriends a week ago during spring break and authorities say she was last seen early Thursday on the beach with friends. In a previous statement, police said surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at about 6 a.m. Thursday. Konanki apparently stayed behind with a man, and surveillance video shows him leaving the beach area hours later without her.

Quinn said Riibe was not part of the group that Konanki traveled to the island with and is believed to have met them in the resort town of Punta Cana. Quinn said he could not confirm Riibe's age or whether he has been interviewed by police.

Riibe is originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and has been a student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota since 2023, according to university spokesperson Zach Dwyer. Dwyer said Riibe is a senior majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences.

Family members of Konanki, a native of India, live in a Washington, D.C., suburb, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the FBI and local law enforcement in the investigation.

"A number of people have been interviewed by the Dominican National Police with the assistance of the FBI," Quinn said. The interview process will continue and the sheriff's office will establish a presence on the ground Wednesday, he said.

Surveillance footage captured final hours before student disappeared

The Hotel Riu Republica, where Konanki was a guest, experienced a 25-hour power outage before her disappearance, but electricity was restored before she was last seen, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The electrical outage occurred in the early hours of March 5, but service was fully restored just after 2 a.m. the next morning, the hotel said. Security cameras were operational and captured several images of Konanki around the hotel with other young guests.

"The last recorded image of her was at 04:17 AM, when she was seen leaving a hotel bar in a groupheading towards the beach," the company said in a statement.

Who is missing US student Sudiksha Konanki?

Konanki's LinkedIn profile says she is a 2022 graduate of the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. Missing person posters describe Konanki as 5 feet 3 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes.

Konanki was last seen wearing a brown bikini, big round earrings, a metal designer anklet on her right leg, yellow and steel bracelets on her right wrist and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist, according to the posters.

What happened to Sudiksha Konanki?

A man told authorities he and Konanki went into the water, he passed out on the beach and she had disappeared when he woke up, the Dominican news outlet El Nacional reported, citing authorities close to the investigation. The outlet also reported that some of Konanki's clothes were found on a beach chair with no signs of violence.

However CNN reported the man told officials a different story, saying they both went into the ocean but he felt sick, got out of the water and fell asleep on a lounge chair, citing local authorities. The man said Konanki may have been swept away by a wave or may have left when he got out of the water, according to the outlet. He also said he saw her walking along the beach with the water up to her knees in the direction of where she had left her clothes, the source said.Police said in a statement the man was cooperating with authorities who were attempting to "corroborate the version" of events − without providing details. Dominican police did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for additional information Wednesday.

Father wants authorities to expand search

Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP-FM he wants authorities to pivot from the assumption that his daughter drowned and consider "multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction." The radio station reported that a complaint seeking to broaden the investigation was filed on Sunday.

"Her belongings, including personal items like her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her," the record of the complaint obtained by WTOP-FM stated.

The Dominican Republic National Police said Tuesday it has worked with multiple U.S. agencies to establish a "high-level commission" to oversee the investigation and will be reinterviewing "targeted individuals" who were seen near or with Konanki at the time of her disappearance.