An individual of interest has been identified within the seek for a 20-year-old student from the University of Pittsburgh who disappeared last week on spring break in Punta Cana.
Sudiksha Konanki was last seen in surveillance footage entering the beach on the Riu República Hotel around 4:15 a.m. on March 6, in keeping with a press release from the Dominican National Police.
On Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Konanki is a biology student, told NBC News that an individual of interest has been identified by U.S. investigators.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has no jurisdiction in Konanki’s case but has sent detectives to Punta Cana to help with the investigation.
Dominican Republic authorities haven’t said whether the person is an individual of interest of their investigation.
“This isn’t the identical thing as a suspect as this isn’t a criminal matter. It continues to be a missing person case,” Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Thomas Julia told the outlet.
Julia also said the as-yet-unidentified person of interest was interviewed at length within the investigation.
Recent surveillance footage of Konanki, who arrived within the country on March 3, has also been released by Dominican Republic news outlet Noticias SIN. The footage, taken at 4:15 a.m. local time on March 6, shows Konanki leaving the Riu República Hotel lobby with three other people.
She is seen arm-in-arm with a person while two women walk behind them as they leave the constructing. In keeping with law enforcement, the person is believed to be the last person to see Konanki.
The surveillance video also shows the person leaving the beach area at 9:55 a.m., with no sign of Konanki.
“The missing woman and the young foreigners who accompanied her were captured by video surveillance cameras a number of meters from entering the beach area,” the Dominican National Police said in a press release.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said he has concerns about “inconsistencies” in witness statements.
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“It’s my understanding that the those that were along with her and witnesses that were there have been interviewed several times,” Chapman told NewsNation’s Banfield on Monday. “I consider on several occasions there have been some inconsistencies with their very own stories. That does hassle me here, which really begs the query, what really happened there?”
The FBI joined the seek for Konanki on Tuesday. The Dominican government noted that others participating within the search include the Dominican Republic Air Force (FARD), the navy, the civil defence and its rescue personnel, members of the fireplace department and staff from the hotel.
“The National Police, along with the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the International Liaison of the US embassy within the country, has formed a high-level commission to follow up on the case,” the Dominican Republic National Police added in a press release on X.
Dominican Republic police said they were re-interviewing individuals who were with Konanki before she vanished on the beach in front of the Riu República Hotel.
“This latest phase began with a means of re-interviewing individuals who were previously with the missing woman in time and space. Employees of the hotel where the young woman and her companions were staying are also a part of this process with a purpose to gather information that may allow corroboration of their movements, interactions and any relevant data on this search process,” they added.
The hotel said in a press release that Konanki’s disappearance coincided with an influence outage that prompted multiple guests to move to the beach.
“Since early this morning, greater than 300 officers, specialists, tactical units, and aquatic search teams have been deployed to the coastal area and surrounding areas of the hotel in a joint effort to trace down any clues that may result in determining the young woman’s whereabouts,” the Dominican police said on Wednesday.
The police added that authorities are “working across the clock to trace down any clues” which will result in Konanki’s location, “maintaining ongoing co-ordination with national and international agencies involved on this search effort.”
Dominican President Luis Abinader told reporters that Konanki’s disappearance is being investigated as an accident.
“We’re concerned,” he said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. “All government agencies are searching … because the newest information we now have from one in every of them, from the last one that was with the young woman, what he says in keeping with the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”
Abinader defended the protection of tourists within the Dominican Republic, saying the country receives greater than 11 million visitors a yr and that issues rarely arise.
“It’s 4 days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,” the missing college student’s father Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP-FM. “She’s not found, so we’re asking them to research multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.”
Authorities were using drones, helicopters and detection dogs on Monday to scour the waters off the island’s east coast where she was supposedly last seen, civil defence spokesperson Jensen Sánchez said.
“The search is underway at sea since it’s presumed she drowned. In keeping with the boy who was along with her, the waves swept her away, but that’s under police investigation,” he said.
He noted it may well take greater than every week for a body to surface in warm waters.
Konanki’s parents flew to Punta Cana with two family friends after learning of their daughter’s disappearance. Subbarayudu and a family friend filed a record of grievance Sunday, asking authorities to widen the investigation.
The grievance notes that the coed’s belongings, including her phone and wallet, were left along with her friends, “which is unusual because she at all times carried her phone along with her.”
“In light of those circumstances, I respectfully request that the authorities take immediate steps to research not only the opportunity of an accidental drowning, but in addition the opportunity of a kidnapping or foul play,” he wrote, in keeping with WTOP-FM.
The Riu Hotels chain said in a press release on March 9 that it was “deeply concerned concerning the disappearance of one in every of our guests.”
“From the moment her absence was reported, we now have been working closely with the local authorities, including the police and the navy, to conduct an intensive search,” the hotel said. “We would love to specific our deepest sympathy to the family and friends during this incredibly difficult time … we’re fully committed to doing all the pieces in our power to help in this example.”
— With files from The Associated Press
