US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who went missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic.
Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town.
She went missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic and US federal law enforcement agencies are working with authorities in the Caribbean country in the probe into her disappearance.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Konanki's hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with Sudiksha 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 was quoted as saying by the USA Today.
Quinn confirmed Riibe was a person of interest in the case, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions, the New York Post reported.
"This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect," Quinn said.
"It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group travelling with the missing person."
A student at the University of Pittsburgh, Konanki was vacationing with five female college friends at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when she went missing on March 6, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Monday.
In a previous statement, the police said surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at about 6 am on March 6. Konanki apparently stayed behind with a man, and surveillance video shows him leaving the beach area hours later without her, the report said.
Quinn said Riibe was not part of the group that Konanki travelled to the island with and is believed to have met them in the resort town of Punta Cana.
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.
Meanwhile, Family members of Konanki, a native of India, live in a Washington, DC, 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.
Father of Sudiksha, Subbarayudu Konanki, told WTOP-FM radio station that 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 US 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.
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