A new video has emerged appearing to show missing U.S. student Sudiksha Konanki possibly throwing up at a hotel bar in the Dominican Republic on the morning that she went missing while near a man since identified as a “person of interest” in her disappearance.
The surveillance video obtained by local station Noticias Sin on Friday appears to show the 20-year-old briefly bending over and possibly vomiting in some grass near an outdoor Punta Cana bar while reveling with friends on March 6.
Konanki, wearing a white, long-sleeved dress, appears to put her hand to her mouth and then bend over behind a post as another woman comes and stands beside her. She then returns to the bar, puts her hand to her chest, and at one point jumps up and down and embraces the other woman.
Fellow American spring breaker Joshua Riibe, who’s reportedly admitted to having been with Konanki on the nearby beach before she vanished, also appears hunched over in grass and stumbling not far from her as if he’s also vomiting.
The pair don’t interact with one another in the video.
The man and woman seen appear to be wearing the same clothing that Konanki and Riibe were seen wearing in another surveillance video released last week, also by Noticias Sin. That video appears to show the pair walking towards the beach, arm in arm, while staggering.
They’re joined by several other people, who reportedly later left the beach without either Konanki or Riibe.
Riibe has denied having any involvement in Konanki’s disappearance, telling investigators that they both went for an early morning swim in the ocean and he lost sight of her after they were overcome by an intense wave. He said he pulled her to shore and last saw her walking in knee-deep water before he passed out on the beach, according to interview transcripts obtained by NBC News and CNN.
Riibe has not been named a suspect in her disappearance, though his attorney told Fox News on Saturday that local authorities have confiscated his passport, barring him from leaving the Caribbean country.
“It was confiscated by authorities when he tried to check out several days ago, when the investigation began,” said lawyers from Guzmán Ariza, a Dominican Republican law firm. “He hasn’t had access to it since then.”
A representative with that law firm did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment Monday.
NBC News reported that Riibe was seen on the beach Sunday, speaking with local investigators while with his attorney.
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“I’m just trying to help them out,” he told NBC. “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
Riibe’s family has meanwhile accused local officials of detaining him “under irregular conditions,” prompting them to seek legal counsel to “ensure his safety and the protection of his rights throughout this process,” they said in a statement shared with the media.
The sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Konanki’s family lives, has said that it is supporting law enforcement’s investigation. An office representative told HuffPost Monday that there were no new updates to share on the case.