Authorities in Virginia have identified a 24-year-old man as
a person of interest in connection to University of Pittsburgh student SudikshaKonanki’s mysterious disappearance last week in the Dominican Republic,
according to a report.
The sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, where the missing
college student is from, told Fox News Digital that Iowa resident Joshua Ribe
“has been interviewed at length” but has not been accused of foul play in what
remains a missing persons case.
“Sheriff [Michael] Chapman wants to make sure the
investigation is comprehensive and includes all possible assets and
techniques,” a spokesperson for the sheriff, Thomas Julia, told Fox News
Digital.
“We are working closely with the FBI on all of this, and
they are working with the Dominican National Police.”
The 20-year-old pre-med student was on spring break with
five friends at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana on March 6 when she
vanished. She was last seen on the beach and Ribe is believed to be the last
person to see her alive.
The pair was last captured on surveillance footage walking
with a group of friends toward the beach area around 4:15 a.m. Thursday,
according to the Dominican Republic National Police.
Footage obtained by Noticias SIN showed Konanki seemingly
clinging to Ribe, a fellow guest at the Caribbean resort, as the group walked
onto the beach.
Konanki and several friends were on the beach before most of
the group called it a night and headed back to their hotel, leaving the young
woman on the sand along with her male companion, according to Dominican media.
Ribe, who traveled to the Dominican Republic from Iowa, gave
authorities three different accounts of what happened after the two were alone
on the beach, first telling cops he threw up from the rough surf and went back
to shore — but asked Konanki if she was OK, according to local reports.
In the second version, he allegedly said he felt sick to his
stomach and left the water, at which point he last saw the missing woman in
knee-deep surf before he passed out.
He then told authorities he saw the Indian citizen and
permanent US resident walking along the shore before he passed out on the sand.
Dominican police have not said if they suspect foul play,
but said Ribe is cooperating with their investigation.
Local authorities have speculated that the spring breaker
from Chantilly, Virginia, likely drowned after jumping into the ocean.
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