THE man who was last seen with missing college student Sudiksha Konanki has been named a person of interest in her disappearance.
The search for the missing 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student has entered its sixth day as federal investigators with the FBI have joined the search in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
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Konanki was last seen on the morning of March 6 on the beach near the Riu República Hotel, where she and five female friends were staying during their Spring Break getaway.
Grainy surveillance photos showed Konanki and Joshua Steven Riibe, a 22-year-old tourist from Iowa, walking towards the beach with a group of people at around 4:15 am.
Several members of the group eventually left the beach and headed back to their hotel rooms, leaving Riibe and Konanki alone on the beach.
Riibe, who is not in police custody or accused of any crime, told investigators that he and Konanki went for a swim but were caught in a large wave.
Read more in The U.S. Sun
The Iowa native claimed he was able to swim back to shore but got sick after swallowing seawater, according to the Daily Mail.
However, Riibe has given detectives three different versions of what happened that morning, according to the New York Post.
In another version, Riibe told investigators that he had fallen asleep on the beach, and the last thing he remembered was Konanki walking on the beach, but when he woke up, she was gone.
Riibe also claimed he felt sick and left Konanki alone, standing in knee-deep water.
POWER OUTAGE AT RESORT
A new surveillance photo showed a shirtless Riibe walking alone without Konanki.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, in Konanki’s hometown in Virginia, named Riibe a person of interest in the missing persons case, according to CBS News.
The Riu República Hotel, where Konanki and her friends were staying, told the outlet the resort suffered a power outage at the same time as Konanki’s disappearance.
“As part of this process, the [National Police] are re-interviewing targeted individuals, who were in the victim’s proximity at the time of her disappearance,” investigators said in a press release.
“This includes hotel employees where Konanki and her companions were staying, with the goal of gathering information to corroborate her movements, interactions, and any relevant details for the investigation.”
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SUDIKSHA GOES MISSING
The extensive search for Konanki includes members of the Dominican National Police, the Dominican attorney general’s office, the FBI, and the US and Indian Embassies.
Konanki, a US resident with Indian citizenship, traveled to the hotspot on March 3 with five other female students for Spring Break.
Her friends alerted authorities on the afternoon of March 7 after Konanki did not return to her room.
Subbarayudu Konanki, the father of the missing student, previously told CNN he wants local police to investigate all other possibilities, including whether his daughter was a victim of kidnapping or human trafficking.
The dad shared his fear after the Dominican National Police suggested Sudiksha may have drowned in the ocean.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia has disputed those claims, saying there is still not yet evidence to support it.
Meanwhile, Dominican authorities have taken possession of Riibe’s passport, according to the Daily Mail.
However, Riibe is lawfully able to recover it and fly back to the US as he has not been charged with a crime.
Riibe, a former high school football player and wrestler, has reportedly been cooperating with investigators since Konanki’s disappearance.
He traveled to Punta Cana for Spring Break as well, but police have yet to make clear if he and Konanki knew each other before meeting on the Caribbean Island.
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