PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — The man who was the last person seen with a missing 20-year-old student from Virginia is now being called a person of interest, according to a sheriff’s office in the U.S.
Sudiksha Konanki, who is a student at the University of Pittsburgh, was last seen on Thursday with Joshua Riibe, a spokesperson with the Loudoun County (Virginia) Sheriff’s Department told WPXI.
Riibe “has been interviewed at length” but the case is “still a missing person case, not a criminal case” spokesperson Thomas Julia told Fox News Digital. Riibe has not been accused of any crime.
It is unknown if Riibe has hired a lawyer and he has not commented on Konanki’s disappearance. Officials said he has been cooperating with their investigation, Fox News reported.
Konanki’s family lives in Virginia as a legal permanent resident in the U.S. She is a citizen of India, ABC News reported.
Riibe, who is a tourist from Iowa, was next to Konanki in a newly released surveillance video as they walked with a group of people to a beach while on spring break in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, WPXI reported.
The group had been drinking in a hotel lobby about an hour before they went to the beach, CNN reported.
“She went to the beach on March 6 early morning around 4 a.m. with friends and some other guys they met at the resort,” Konanki’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, told CNN. “After that, her friends came back after some time and my daughter did not come back, did not show up from the beach.”
Riibe was seen leaving the beach just before 9 a.m. He told police that he and Sudiksha Konanki went into the ocean together. He felt sick and got out of the water and fell asleep on a beach lounge, CNN reported. Police said he gave different details but no significant inconsistencies of the night, CNN reported. Police said the differences may have been due to translation issues.
Sudiksha Konanki’s clothing was found on a portable beach bed near where she was last seen, ABC News reported. But there was no sign of violence. CNN said the clothing was a coverup and that it was found on a lounge chair.
[ Search continues for missing college student; man, friends questioned ]
Dominican President Luis Abinader said that her disappearance is being investigated as an accident and that crews are conducting a “special search operation in the ocean,” CNN reported.
More than 300 officers, specialists, tactical units and water search teams were searching the area for Sudiksha Konanki on Tuesday morning. The FBI has also joined the investigation, The Associated Press reported.
While they focus on the water, her father is taking for local police “to also investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction, WTOP reported. He said that her phone and wallet were left with her friends and that was unusual for his daughter.
“In light of these circumstances, I respectfully request that the authorities take immediate steps to investigate not only the possibility of an accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a kidnapping or foul play,” Subbarayudu Konanki wrote in a record of complaint, according to WTOP.
Officials said that they believe she drowned, the AP reported.