Police said they were re-interviewing people who were with Sudiksha Konanki before she vanished at the beach in front of the Riu República Hotel.
A person of interest has been identified in the search 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 at the Riu República Hotel around 4:15 a.m. on March 6, according to a statement 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 a person 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 assist with the investigation.
Dominican Republic authorities have not said whether the individual is a person of interest in their investigation.
“This is not the same thing as a suspect as this is not a criminal matter. It is still 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 in the investigation.
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20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student missing in Dominican Republic, search underway
New surveillance footage of Konanki, who arrived in 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 man while two women walk behind them as they leave the building. According to law enforcement, the man is believed to be the last person to see Konanki.
The surveillance video also shows the man 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 few meters from entering the beach area,” the Dominican National Police said in a statement.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said he has concerns about “inconsistencies” in witness statements.
“It’s my understanding that the people that were with her and witnesses that were there have been interviewed several times,” Chapman told NewsNation’s Banfield on Monday. “I believe on several occasions there have been some inconsistencies with their very own stories. That does bother me here, which really begs the question, what really happened there?”
The FBI joined the search for Konanki on Tuesday. The Dominican government noted that others participating in the search include the Dominican Republic Air Force (FARD), the navy, the civil defence and its rescue personnel, members of the fire department and staff from the hotel.
“The National Police, together with the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the International Liaison of the US embassy in the country, has formed a high-level commission to follow up on the case,” the Dominican Republic National Police added in a statement on X.
Dominican Republic police said they were re-interviewing people who were with Konanki before she vanished at the beach in front of the Riu República Hotel.
“This new phase began with a process of re-interviewing people 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 part of this process in order to gather information that will allow corroboration of their movements, interactions and any relevant data in this search process,” they added.
The hotel said in a statement that Konanki’s disappearance coincided with a power outage that prompted multiple guests to head to the beach.
“Since early this morning, more 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 track down any clues that might lead to determining the young woman’s whereabouts,” the Dominican police said on Wednesday.
The police added that authorities are “working around the clock to track down any clues” that may lead to Konanki’s location, “maintaining ongoing co-ordination with national and international agencies involved in this search effort.”
Dominican President Luis Abinader told reporters that Konanki’s disappearance is being investigated as an accident.
“We are concerned,” he said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. “All government agencies are searching … because the latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”
Abinader defended the safety of tourists in the Dominican Republic, saying the country receives more than 11 million visitors a year and that issues rarely arise.
“It’s four 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 investigate 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 because it’s presumed she drowned. According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her away, but that is under police investigation,” he said.
He noted it can take more than a 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 complaint Sunday, asking authorities to widen the investigation.
The complaint notes that the student’s belongings, including her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, “which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her.”
“In light of these circumstances, I respectfully request that the authorities take immediate steps to investigate not only the possibility of an accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a kidnapping or foul play,” he wrote, according to WTOP-FM.
The Riu Hotels chain said in a statement on March 9 that it was “deeply concerned about the disappearance of one of our guests.”
“From the moment her absence was reported, we have been working closely with the local authorities, including the police and the navy, to conduct a thorough search,” the hotel said. “We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends during this incredibly difficult time … we are fully committed to doing everything in our power to assist in this situation.”
— With files from The Associated Press