In a joint and unprecedented investigation between the FBI and the National Police of the Dominican Republic, a first suspect has been identified in the disappearance of the medical student from the University of Pittsburgh, Sudiksha Konanki, 20 years old, who has been missing since March 6 when she was at Punta Cana beaches with five friends for her spring break vacation.
PUBLICIDAD
In an unprecedented search, authorities from the United States and the Dominican Republic are united in looking for the college student, alive or dead, both by land and water, but there are no traces of her.
PUBLICIDAD
The New York Post reported that according to Thomas Julia, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, there is a primary suspect. He is a young man from Iowa named Joshua Riibe, who apparently was the last person to see her.
The investigations indicate that surveillance cameras show Riibe with the student, walking with friends at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana. It was 4:15 in the morning last Thursday. She was walking arm in arm with him.
It is known that Riibe was a companion invited by the group of friends with whom the Indian student shared.
The Dominican media reports that the group of friends left and left both of them on the beach.
Versions about the disappearance of the student in Punta Cana
Media outlets in the Dominican Republic report that the suspect has been cooperating with the police during interrogations, and so far, they have not found any evidence that could incriminate him in the girl’s disappearance.
It is important to emphasize that the case is still being handled as a disappearance and not as a homicide, but what does the suspect say about the disappearance of the student in Punta Cana?
Riibe has given three accounts of what happened after they were left alone on the beach. The Post reports that one of these is that he vomited because of the waves and returned to the shore, where he asked Konanki if he was okay. The second version is that he felt sick to his stomach and came out of the water, but then fainted. Before passing out, he saw the student with the water up to her knees. The third account is that he saw Konanki walking along the shore before fainting on the sand.
Local media do not rule out that the student drowned at the beaches of Punta Cana, but family members are not convinced of this hypothesis because several days have passed and her body has not been found. Her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, suspects that she was kidnapped.
Mysteries of the case
Despite the location of a first suspect, the mystery continues to surround the disappearance of the student in Punta Cana. One of the aspects that are not clear is whether she and Riibe knew each other before this vacation.
It is known that the suspect is a former wrestler and football player at Central Lyon High School in Rock Rapids, Iowa. According to his LinkedIn biography, he is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Fox News indicated he is 24 years old, but The Post emphasized that online records suggest he is 22.
The posters with Sudiksha Konanki’s photo are still on the streets of Punta Cana and on social media, providing detailed information for those who may have seen her. The investigation is still ongoing by the authorities six days after her disappearance.