The International Criminal Police Organization, also known as Interpol, has issued a global alert in search of an Indian-origin student, Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing in the Dominican Republic.
Ms Konanki, a Virginia resident studying at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, mysteriously disappeared during a spring break visit to the Caribbean country.
Interpol’s yellow notice, which is issued for missing persons such as victims of kidnappings or “unexplained disappearances”, said that Ms Konanki was last seen in Punta Cana on March 6.
The 20-year-old is 1.6-metre tall and has three piercings on her right ear, the Interpol notice read. She has black hair and brown-coloured eyes, it added.
Ms Konanki was reported to be vacationing with five female college friends at a resort in Punta Cana. Surveillance video showed her and her friends walking toward the beach. The others later returned to the hotel, while she was seen with Joshua Riibe, a senior at St Cloud State University in Minnesota, who has now been named the “person of interest”.
Testimony Of Man Last Seen With Sudiksha Konanki
Joshua Riibe has reportedly accepted that he was with Sudiksha Konanki on the night she disappeared.
According to a transcript obtained by NBC News, Mr Riibe said they were “in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little” when a strong wave pulled them out to sea.
Mr Riibe, who is a trained pool lifeguard, claimed he tried to hold Ms Konanki under his arm while swimming back to shore, making sure she could breathe. He struggled to stay afloat, saying, “I took in a lot of water.”
When they reached shallower waters, Mr Riibe set Ms Konanki in front of him and saw her “walking at an angle in the water.” He last asked if she was okay but didn’t hear her response as he began vomiting the seawater he had swallowed.
By the time he recovered, she was nowhere to be seen. Thinking she had left, Mr Riibe passed out on a beach chair. Surveillance footage later recorded him returning to his hotel alone, hours later.
Sudiksha Konanki’s Family Wants Thorough Probe
While Dominican authorities initially suspected that Sudiksha Konanki drowned, her family has urged investigators to explore other possibilities, like abduction.
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.
She reportedly lives with her family in Loudoun County, Virginia and studies biology and chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.
