Surveillance footage showed Sudiksha Konanki, the University of Pittsburgh student who was last seen on a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic, heading toward a hotel beach, moments before she disappeared in the early morning hours on March 6.
Dominican authorities have expanded the search for the 20-year-old college student as the investigation heads into its sixth day, while U.S. officials said they were sending detectives to Punta Cana to aid in the investigation.
Konanki was last seen around 4 a.m. walking with a group of people to the beach area at the RIU Republic Resort in Punta Cana on March 6. She had traveled with a group of five other female University of Pittsburgh students on March 3, officials said.
Thomas Julia, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, told NBC News a person of interest had been identified in the case by U.S. investigators.
Konanki’s family resides in Loudoun County, and detectives from the sheriff’s office are assisting local investigators in the Dominican Republic, though the office has no jurisdiction in the case.
The Dominican National Police referred questions about the person of interest from NBC News to the Attorney General’s Office of the Dominican Republic, and the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Julia said the person of interest had been interviewed at length by investigators. The person has not been named as a suspect or charged with any crime.
Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman said the last person known to be with Konanki on the beach was a 24-year-old man from the U.S.
“There is concern about the statements that he’s made, the inconsistencies on those statements,” Chapman said.
The Dominican National Police said investigators are reviewing security footage, as well as re-interviewing Konanki’s friends, hotel staff members and the people who were last seen with her.
Dominican investigators said Konanki’s friends returned to their hotel about 40 minutes after they went to the beach, and local authorities believe Konanki stayed behind with at least one person.
Chapman told NBC Washington that Konanki stayed on the beach with other people who weren’t from the University of Pittsburgh whom she had met on the trip. He said local authorities were talking with those people.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said at a news conference on Monday, that was translated by NBC News, that one of the last people in contact with Konanki reported “that a wave hit them while they were on the beach and caused some kind of situation,” citing local reports.
No signs of blood or violence were found on the beach, National Police spokesperson Diego Pesqueira said.
Konanki’s friends had an excursion booked on March 6, and didn’t realized she was missing until about 12 hours later, Dominican police said.
Konaki’s family has traveled to the Dominican Republic to aid in the search, and has asked for privacy.
“So far they have not been able to find my daughter,” Konanki’s father Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP. “They are using helicopters, drones, and scuba diving and boats.”
Julia said it is still a missing persons case, and Chapman expressed hope that Konanki will be found soon.
