A person of interest has been identified in the search for a 20 -year -old student from Pittsburgh University who disappeared last week on spring holidays in Punta Cana.
Sudiksha Konanki was last seen in surveillance images that enter the beach at the Riu Republic hotel around 4:15 am on March 6, according to a statement from the Dominican National Police.
On Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the Sheriff's office of Loudoun County in Virginia, where Konanki is a biology student, News told NBC that a person of interest It has been identified by American researchers.
The Sheriff's Office of the Loudoun County has no jurisdiction in the case of Konanki, but has sent detectives to Punta Cana to help with the investigation.
The authorities of the Dominican Republic have not said if the individual is a person of interest in his investigation.
“This is not the same as a suspect, since it is not a criminal issue. It is still a case of missing person, ”said Thomas Julia, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office of Loudoun County, Thomas Julia.
Julia also said that the person of unidentified interest was interviewed extensively in the investigation.
New Surveillance footage De Konanki, who arrived in the country on March 3, has also been released by the media of the Dominican Republic, news without. The images, taken at 4:15 am local time on March 6, shows Konanki leaving the lobby of the Riu Republic hotel with three other people.
It is seen in the arm with a man while two women walk behind them as they leave the building. According APPLICATION OF THE LAWIt is believed that man is the last person to see Konanki.
The surveillance video also shows the man who leaves the beach area at 9:55 am, without Konanki signs.
“The missing woman and the young foreigners who accompanied her were captured by video surveillance cameras a few meters from entering the beach area”, the Dominican National Police said in a statement.
Sheriff of the Loudoun Mike Chapman He said he has worries about “inconsistencies” in witness statements.
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“I understand that the people who were with her and witnesses who were there have been interviewed several times,” Chapman told Newsnation's Banfield Mondays. “I think that on several occasions there have been some inconsistencies with their own stories. That bothers me here, what really raises the question, what really happened there? “
The FBI joined the search for Konanki on Tuesday. The Dominican government said Others who participate in the search include the Dominican Republic Air Force (FARD), the Navy, the Civil Defense and its rescue staff, members of the Fire Department and the hotel staff.
“The National Police, together with the Office of the Attorney General (PGR), the Federal Office of Investigation (FBI) and the international link of the United States Embassy in the country, has formed a high -level commission to monitor the case,” added the National Police of the Dominican Republic In a statement about X.
Police of the Dominican Republic said they were starting again People who were with Konanki before disappearing on the beach in front of the Riu Republic hotel.
“This new phase began with a process of reverence of people who were previously with the missing woman in time and space. The hotel employees where the young woman and her companions were housed are also part of this process to collect information that allows the corroboration of their movements, interactions and any relevant data in this search process, ”they added.
The hotel said in a statement that Konanki's disappearance coincided with an energy cut that led several guests to go to the beach.
“From early this morning, more than 300 officers, specialists, tactical units and aquatic search equipment in the coastal area and its surroundings of the hotel have been deployed in a joint effort to track any track that can lead to determine the whereabouts of the young woman,” Dominican police said Wednesday.
Police added that the authorities are “working 24 hours to track any track” that can lead to the location of Konanki, “maintaining continuous coordination with national and international agencies involved in this search effort.”
Dominican President Luis Abinader told reporters That Konanki's disappearance is being investigated as an accident.
“We are worried,” said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. “All government agencies are looking for … because the last information we have of one of them, of the last person with the young woman, which says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”
Abinader defended the safety of tourists in the Dominican Republic, saying that the country receives more than 11 million visitors a year and that the problems arise rarely.
“There are four days, and if it were in the water, it would probably have spread to the coast,” the father of the missing university student, Subbarayudu Konanki, He told WTOP-FM. “It has not been found, so we ask them to investigate multiple options, such as kidnapping or kidnapping.”
The authorities used drones, helicopters and detection dogs on Monday to travel the waters of the east coast of the island, where it was supposedly seen, for the last time, Civil Defense spokesman Jense Sánchez said.
“The search is running at sea because it is supposed to drown. According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her, but that is under police investigation, ”he said.
He pointed out that he can take more than a week for a body to emerge in warm waters.
Konanki's parents flew to Punta Cana with two friends from the family after learning about their daughter's disappearance. Subbarayudu and a family friend presented a complaint record on Sunday, asking the authorities to expand the investigation.
The complaint indicates that the student's belongings, including his phone and wallet, stayed with his friends, “which is unusual because he always wore his phone with her.”
“In the light of these circumstances, I respectfully request that the authorities take immediate measures to investigate not only the possibility of accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a dirty kidnapping or game,” he wrote, according to WTOP-FM.
He The Riu Hotels chain said in a statement On March 9, he was “deeply concerned about the disappearance of one of our guests.”
“From the moment its absence was reported, we have been working closely with local authorities, including the Police and the Navy, to carry out an exhaustive search,” said the hotel. “We would like to express our deepest sympathy for family and friends during this incredibly difficult time … we are completely committed to doing everything in our power to help in this situation.”
– With Associated Press files