According to US officials, people of interest were identified in a week-long search for the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who disappeared during a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic.
A spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, who came from a 20-year-old biology student, told NBC News Wednesday morning that people of interest had been identified by US investigators.
The Sheriff’s Office has no jurisdiction in the case, but has sent detectives to Punta Cana to assist the US side of the investigation.
Dominican Republic authorities have not confirmed whether individuals are interested in the investigation. Dominican Republic National Police introduced the question to the local Attorney General’s Office Wednesday morning.
“This isn’t the same as the suspect. It’s not a criminal matter, so it’s still a missing person,” Thomas Julia, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, told NBC News.
Individuals were interviewed at length in the survey, Julia said.
The FBI National Press Office also introduced the question to Dominican Republic authorities, saying, “The FBI continues to support international partners on this issue.”
Conanki traveled to Punta Cana on March 3rd with five friends from university. She disappeared after 4:15am on March 6th after her friend was seen in a security video entering the beach area of the RIU Republic Resort, where she and her friends were staying, Dominican Republic National Police said.
Surveillance footage obtained by Dominican news outlet Noticias Sin appears to show Conanki’s last known movement.
Conanki’s friends returned to the hotel about 40 minutes later, but she was behind with others who hadn’t come from college they met on the trip, Loudon County Sheriff Michael Chapman told NBC Washington on Monday.
Her friends then spent the field trip on Thursday, March 6th, and found out she went missing about 12 hours later. They then notified the hotel, said Diego Pesqueira, a spokesman for the Dominican Republic National Police.
Dominican Republic President Lewis Abinader said at a press conference Monday that one of the last people in contact with Conanki “reported that they attacked them while they were on the beach, causing some kind of situation.”
Police said they could not find any signs of blood or violence on the beach, Pesqueira said.
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