Person of interest identified in disappearance of student in Dominican Republic

The US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who has mysteriously gone missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic.

Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Konanki’s hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with Sudiksha at a resort before she went missing, spokesperson Chad Quinn said.

Though Konanki’s father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, Quinn said the case is not a criminal investigation, so Riibe is not considered a suspect in Konanki’s disappearance.

“This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest,” Quinn was quoted as saying.

Quinn confirmed Riibe was a person of interest in the case, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions, the New York Post reported.

“It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group travelling with the missing person,” he said.

A student at the University of Pittsburgh, Konanki was vacationing with five female college friends at a resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when she went missing on March 6, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said in a statement Monday.

In a previous statement, the police said surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at about 6 am on March 6. Konanki apparently stayed behind with a man, and surveillance video shows him leaving the beach area hours later without her, the report said.

Riibe is originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and has been a student at St Cloud State University in Minnesota since 2023, according to university spokesperson Zach Dwyer.