Freshstarter – Search operations continued into their second week for student Sudiksha Konanki, a missing student at the University of Pittsburgh, who was reported missing earlier this month while visiting the resort town of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
As the international inquiry progresses, additional information regarding Konanki’s disappearance has started to surface. Below is a summary of the current knowledge pertaining to her case.
Konanki seen on video walking to beach
Konanki, aged 20, hails from Chantilly, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and is currently enrolled in a college in Pittsburgh. She possesses permanent residency in the United States and holds citizenship in India. On March 3, she traveled to the Dominican Republic to partake in spring break festivities, accompanied by a group of friends, consisting of five other women, as reported by investigators and her family.
She has been unaccounted for since Thursday, March 6, subsequent to surveillance footage revealing her, along with three companions and two other American males, proceeding toward the beach area adjacent to the Riu República hotel. The footage was recorded at approximately 4:15 a.m., according to investigators in the Dominican Republic.
The hotel indicated in a statement that power outages may have led guests to congregate outdoors around that time. Prior surveillance footage captured Konanki engaging in a hug with one of her friends at the hotel bar.
One of the individuals in the group proceeding to the beach has been recognized as 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, an American college student. The recorded footage depicts Konanki and Riibe walking with their arms around one another.
Subsequent video evidence reveals that the remaining four individuals returned to the hotel, while Konanki and Riibe remained on the beach, according to a police source.
Riibe informed law enforcement that he and Konanki were drawn into the ocean by a substantial wave and both struggled against the turbulent waters. He expressed that he believed Konanki managed to exit the water, although he was uncertain of this, as per an individual with direct knowledge of Riibe’s statements to U.S. investigators.
He is presumed to be the last person to have seen Konanki alive. The investigation into Konanki’s disappearance is currently categorized as a missing persons case, rather than a criminal investigation.
The attorney general of the Dominican Republic indicated that investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding Konanki’s potential drowning while not entirely dismissing the possibility of foul play. Riibe is currently subject to questioning and has stated that he is cooperating with the investigation.
Riibe has been in Punta Cana for questioning since the investigation got underway.
Authorities confiscated his passport, his attorney Guzmán Ariza said Saturday, noting his client is confined to a hotel with police escorts anywhere he goes. Yeni Berenice Reynoso, the Dominican attorney general, was interrogating Riibe directly, Ariza told CBS News.
Riibe and his parents, Tina and Albert Riibe, extended “deep sorrow and solidarity” with Konanski’s family in a statement released through his attorney.
“Above all, we wish to contribute to the search efforts and understand the anguish and uncertainty they are going through and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as soon as possible,” the statement said. “Joshua Riibe is deeply dismayed by her disappearance and has fully cooperated in the search and clarification of the facts from the very beginning.”
Originally from Iowa, Riibe is a college senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he is pursuing a degree in land surveying.
His family in their statement described him as “a beloved son, brother, and friend, known for his kind nature, sense of humor, and commitment to his community.”
They also shared concerns about the “irregular conditions” of his detainment in Punta Cana, where, they said, he had been “subjected to extensive questioning without the presence of official translators or legal counsel until Wednesday, March 12.” The family retained a lawyer “to initiate legal actions ensuring his safety and the protection of his rights throughout this process,” according to the statement.
Intensifying search efforts
Over 300 law enforcement and other officials, with assistance from the FBI, are conducting searches across the air, sea, and land to find her, stated Dominican President Luis Abinader. The National Police of the Dominican Republic announced the formation of a new “high-level commission” to manage the investigation, and at the request of the investigators, Interpol has issued a worldwide police alert.
“We are worried,” Abinader expressed during a press conference on March 10. “All government agencies are involved in the search… because the most recent information we have from the last individual who was with the young woman suggests, according to reports, that a wave crashed into them while they were at the beach.”
On March 11, the Dominican Republic National Police issued a statement indicating that they were “conducting re-interviews with specific individuals who were in close proximity to the victim at the time of her disappearance.” The investigators noted that these individuals included “employees of the hotel where Konanki and her associates were lodged, with the objective of collecting information to validate her movements, interactions, and any pertinent details relevant to the investigation.”
