Family of Sudiksha Konanki missing University of Pittsburgh pre-med student believe their daughter may have been abducted or kidnapped as questions remain about her alleged drowning, her body failing to turn up and concern she may still be alive or met with foul play. Joshua Steven Ribe id as young man to have last seen pre-med student alive.
Is she still alive and if so, where is she? The family of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki have discounted reports of their daughter drowning, with her parens saying the ‘good girl’ could have been abducted in the Dominican Republic where she had traveled with five other classmates.
Local authorities have suggested the 20-year-old pre-med student likely drowned after jumping in the ocean early Thursday while on spring break with an un-identified male at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana.
Josh Riibe family insist he is innocent & did not hurt or harm Sudiksha Konanki
Iowa wrestling star, 24, last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive gives conflicting account
Was University of Pittsburgh pre-med student a victim of a crime?
However, a complaint seeking to intensify search efforts said that ‘while it is possible that Sudiksha drowned, there is a growing suspicion that there may be a crime, specifically the possibility of kidnapping,’ WTOP reported Monday.
‘It’s four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore,’ the missing student’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, told the outlet.
‘She’s not found, so we’re asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction.’
The dad flew from his home in Virginia to Punta Cana with his wife and two family friends as soon as he realized his daughter was missing.
They filed the criminal complaint pushing Dominican authorities to ‘take immediate steps to investigate not only the possibility of an accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a kidnapping or foul play,’
‘Her belongings, including personal items like her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her,’ the complaint said.
Who was the young man that pre-med student went swimming with?
According to the record of complaint, ‘While it is possible that Sudiksha drowned, there is a growing suspicion that there may be a crime, specifically the possibility of kidnapping.’
Sudiksha, some friends and ‘some other guys they met at the resort’ went to the beach around 4 a.m. after she told her friends she was heading to a party, her father 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,’ her father said.
A previous report cited a ‘young male’ since identified as Joshua Steven Ribe, 24, stating that Sudiksha and he had stayed behind on the beach, while members of their party returned to their hotel, to go swimming. It was while swimming, the male stated that the pre-med student was swept away by a large wave.
On just 4.50 a.m, Thursday morning, Konanki and others were spotted on surveillance footage near the beach shortly before she went missing. Around 5:55 a.m. Thursday, surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach, while Konanki is believed to have stayed behind with a young man, the local police source told CNN.
Officials at the resort said her friends reported her disappearance around 4 p.m. Thursday — about 12 hours after she was last seen — when she was not in her room.
But there’s more.
Surveillance video shows the man in question leaving the beach area at 9:55 a.m, with no sign of Konanki. It remained unclear if the man had notified authorities of Konanki allegedly being swept away by waves.
Ribe according to local media explained that both he and Konanki entered the sea waters only to be engulfed by a wave, with the man saying he managed to get out, vomiting and falling asleep on the sand. He said when he got out of the water, he thought the young woman, Konanki had done so, too.
Authorities have interviewed Ribe to determine what happened when the two were alone, a source told CNN, with Dominican Police broadening their investigation to corroborate his preliminary version.
To date, Riber has not been identified as a suspect, WTOP reported.
Dominican Republic travel advisory
Local media identified the man as Joshua Ribe, 24, with commentators on social media stating the ‘tourist’ has since been allowed to leave the Dominican Republic.
‘They searched using helicopters and other tools. They also searched in the nearby bay, bushes, and trees. They went multiple times around the same areas,’ her father told the CNN.
The investigation has included ‘checking surveillance cameras of nearby resorts as well, because they share the same shore.’
To date, agencies have not located the missing pre-med student, whether alive or not.
Agencies from Konanki’s home in Virginia, along with the Indian Embassy in the Dominican Republic, have been continuing to assist in the search for the missing 20 year old. Konanki a US resident is an Indian national.
The FBI, DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and the University of Pittsburgh police are assisting the Dominican National Police’s investigation, according to the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Va., where Konanki is from.
The University of Pittsburgh has also been coordinating with her family.
Konanki was staying at the resort with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, after having traveled to the ‘dream’ getaway island on Monday, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
The US State Department has in place a Level 2 of 4 travel advisory for the Dominican Republic, advising Americans to use increased caution and not display signs of wealth. ‘Violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault, is a concern throughout the Dominican Republic,’ the agency said in a June advisory.
