Authorities have pinpointed a person of interest in the case of a college student who disappeared during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic. As authorities on the Caribbean island intensify their search for 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, new details have emerged. The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office from Konanki’s hometown in Virginia revealed that Joshua Riibe was spotted with the student at a resort prior to her disappearance, according to spokesperson Chad Quinn. While Konanki’s father has urged for a wider investigation, Quinn clarified that the case is not classified as a criminal one, hence Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konanki’s vanishing act. Quinn emphasized that Riibe, who may have been the last person to see her, is under close scrutiny.
Konanki had traveled to the island with five friends a week earlier during spring break, and she was last seen early Thursday on the beach in the company of her friends. Surveillance footage showed five women and one man leaving the beach around 6 a.m. on Thursday. Konanki remained behind with a man, who was later seen leaving the beach area alone hours later. Riibe, who was not part of the initial group, is believed to have met Konanki’s group in the resort town of Punta Cana. Additional inquiries are ongoing, with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office cooperating with the FBI and local authorities.
Riibe, originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, is a senior majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Despite the ongoing investigations, details about Riibe remain undisclosed. Family members of Konanki, who hails from India, reside in a suburb of Washington, D.C., and authorities are continuing their collaborative efforts to piece together the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
In a significant turn of events, it was revealed that the hotel where Konanki was staying experienced a power outage lasting 25 hours before her disappearance, though electricity was restored before she was last seen. Surveillance footage captured her movements within the hotel premises just before she went missing. Konanki’s profile indicates she graduated from the esteemed Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, and she has been described in missing person posters as 5 feet 3 inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown bikini, big round earrings, and a metal designer anklet on her right ankle.
The woman was described as having a tattoo on her right leg, wearing yellow and steel bracelets on her right wrist, and a multicolored beaded bracelet on her left wrist, as stated in the posters. The disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki remains a mystery. According to reports from Dominican news outlet El Nacional, a man claimed that he and Konanki entered the water together, but he passed out on the beach and she was gone when he woke up. Some of Konanki’s clothes were found on a beach chair without signs of violence. However, CNN reported a different version from the man, stating that he felt sick, got out of the water, and fell asleep on a lounge chair. He suggested that Konanki might have been swept away by a wave or left while he was out of the water. The man claimed he saw Konanki walking along the beach towards where she had left her clothes. Police are investigating the case and the man is cooperating with the authorities in verifying the events. Sudiksha’s father has requested a broader investigation, considering other possibilities such as kidnapping or abduction, as her personal belongings were left behind with her friends, which was unusual behavior for her. The Dominican Republic National Police announced a collaboration with various U.S. agencies to intensify the search and re-interview individuals who were in the vicinity of Konanki at the time of her disappearance.
