Family of Sudiksha Konanki believes she 'drowned': Sheriff
The family of missing college student Sudiksha Konanki has asked authorities to declare the 20-year-old dead, according to U.S. officials.
"Sudiksha’s family has expressed their belief that she drowned," Loudon County Sheriff Michael Chapman said in a statement Tuesday. "While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every way possible."
Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, disappeared from a beach in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, and her disappearance is being investigated by local authorities and by authorities from her hometown in Loudoun County, Va.
What happened to Sudiksha Konanki?
Konanki was last seen at the Riu República Hotel, just north of Punta Cana in the La Altagracia district, around 4 a.m. local time on March 6. She was one of six female University of Pittsburgh students who traveled together for spring break on March 3.
Police said Konanki disappeared after she and other guests went outside amid a power outage. The group was accompanied by two American men. The now-missing student stayed on the beach with one of the men while the rest of the group returned to the hotel.
Dominican police say they’ve been reinterviewing people who were with Konanki before she went missing. Investigators have been using drones, helicopters and detection dogs to search waters off the island’s east coast.
Despite the extensive search, her body has not been found. The public prosecutor’s office said Konanki’s friends have been interviewed.
Video shows Konanki at outdoor bar
Video footage was released on Monday that appears to be Konanki with a man who has been under the attention of authorities at an outdoor bar before she disappeared.
The videos were published by local media outlet Noticia SIN and appear to show Konanki and her friends at a resort bar near a man who resembles Joshua Riibbe.
Local authorities initially said they believed Konanki drowned, but have not ruled out the possibility of foul play in her disappearance.
Local police previously said Riibe is not a suspect, although the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office believes he may have been the last person to see Konanki before she disappeared. Authorities in the Dominican Republic later pulled Riibe’s passport, and he is not allowed to leave the country.
Riibe told authorities he pulled Konanki out of rough water in the ocean. He said he vomited seawater up after the incident and felt sick before falling asleep on a beach chair. He added that he believed Konanki left the beach before he passed out and woke up some time later.
Four tourists drowned at the same beach nearly two months prior to Konanki’s disappearance. The night she disappeared, there were rough seas and high waves, authorities said.
NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali and Alex Caprariello contributed to this report.
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