A 24-year-old tourist from the US state of Iowa was the last person to see Sudiksha Konanki, the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student who went missing from a Dominican Republic beach. Joshua Steven Ribe, who admitted to passing out drunk on the shore, claimed Ms Konanki was gone when he woke up, Dominican news outlet El Nacional reported.
Now, as a massive search enters its fourth day, her family fears she may have been kidnapped.
Ms Konanki, a pre-med student from South Riding, Virginia, was vacationing with five friends at the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana. Surveillance footage from Noticias SIN showed the group partying at a resort disco until 3 am before heading to the beach around 4 am. By 5:50 am, her friends left her alone with Mr Ribe, making him the last known person to see her alive.
Mr Ribe has since provided three different versions of what happened next:
- He vomited from rough waves, left the water, and checked if Ms Konanki was okay.
- He felt sick, exited the surf, and last saw her in knee-deep water before blacking out.
- He saw her walking along the shore before falling asleep.
Despite the conflicting accounts, police have not named him a suspect but confirmed he was cooperating with investigators.
Ms Konanki's friends waited nearly 12 hours before reporting her missing at 4 pm on Thursday, The NY Post reported.
Authorities have deployed drones, helicopters, boats, scuba divers, and all-terrain vehicles to search for the missing Indian student. Juan Salas, director of the Dominican Republic's Civil Defence, said that the chances of finding her alive are "minimal."
Authorities believe she may have drowned after entering the ocean in a brown bikini, as her clothes were found on a beach chaise lounge. Her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, has formally requested an expanded investigation, fearing she was kidnapped.
"It's four days, and if she was in the water, she would likely have been strewn to shore. She's not found, so we're asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction," he told WTOP-TV.
The family also finds it unusual that Ms Konanki's phone and wallet were left with her friends, as she always carried her phone with her.
Family friend Ramprakash Krishnamanaidu said, "If she's not in the water, they couldn't find her in the resorts, they couldn't find her in the hospitals - then where is she?"
The Dominican National Police are now interrogating multiple individuals, including Ms Konanki's friends and other resort guests. Authorities are also reviewing surveillance footage from nearby resorts.
International agencies including the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and University of Pittsburgh police are assisting with the case. The Indian Embassy in the Dominican Republic has taken diplomatic charge.
