A person of interest has been identified in the missing case of Indian-origin student Sudiksha Konanki and according to local media reports, he is a student from St Cloud State University.

Multiple outlets reported that the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia named 24-year-old Joshua Riibe as a person of interest in Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance. However, he has not been accused of any crime at this time. 

Sudiksha Konanki, a student of the University of Pittsburgh, went missing during a spring break trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. She was last seen on March 6, near the Riu Republica Hotel, during a power outage that prompted guests to go to the beach. She was staying there with a group of friends. The last person who saw her said a wave crashed into them while they were on the beach. 

The latest surveillance footage released shows Sudikha with this person, in a group. There were three other women and a boy beside them as they were seen walking towards the beach at 4.16 am.  She was seen hugging a man who was apparently videographing them as they walked towards the beach. The same video later shows the rest of the group returning from the beach to the hotel at an unknown time. At around 8.30 am the man who was seen with Sudiksha is seen returning to the hotel, with no shirt on.

Authorities, including Dominican Police and FBI, have been conducting extensive search operations in the area using helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs. Search has been extended to the waters off the coast also following suspicions that she may have ventured into the sea. She was last seen wearing a brown bikini, large earrings, a metal anklet, and yellow and steel bracelets, according to different sources. 

Her family suspects possibilities beyond drowning in her case and has called for broader investigations. They have asked the police to consider other circumstances, such as kidnapping or abduction. Sudikha had left behind her phone and valet with her friends, which the family says is uncharacteristic of her. 

The 20-year-old Sudikha is the daughter of Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konaki and according to reports was planning a career in medicine. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia.