Cops investigating whether Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki was victim of foul play

Officials in the Dominican Republic said they have not ruled out foul play in the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, as the search for enters its seventh day.

The attorney general and police in the Caribbean nation said in a release that the search for the missing co-ed now extends “beyond an accidental event,” and “examines all variables.”

Local media previously reported that authorities quickly came to believe that Konanki, 20, drowned after going in the water after a night out with friends.

“We are using all our resources to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Konanki Sudiksha Chowdary and we understand the anguish this case causes to her family, Dominicans, and Americans,” Dominican Republic Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso said in a statement.

“As with any disappearance occurring under the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables,” she said.

“The young woman’s family, as well as Dominican and American society, must be absolutely certain that we will continue to investigate until we have the response that we, the authorities, are duty-bound to guarantee.”

Konanki, 20, of an Indian national from Virginia, was staying with friends at the RIU Hotel & Resort in Punta Cana on spring break when she went missing in the early morning hours of March 6.

More than 300 law enforcement personnel, including from the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security, are involved in the massive search, agencies in both countries confirmed.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in her hometown have identified Joshua Riibe, a 24-year-old tourist from Iowa, as a person of interest in the case — while cautioning that he is not a suspect, nor have authorities determined that a crime was committed.

The Rock Rapids resident has been cooperating with police.

Riibe’s aunt Theresa Riiibe told the Daily Mail that she believed her nephew, who wrestled and played football in high school, “wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

A neighbor told the Mail: “I bet my life on it, Josh did not hurt that girl.”

A rep for the sheriff’s office said Thursday that Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman met with Riibe’s father this week, and said the office requested that the international law enforcement agency Interpol issue a “yellow notice” — worldwide missing persons alert in the case.

Agustin Morillo Rodriguez, vice admiral of the Dominican navy, told Noticias SIN on Wednesday that it’s possible Konanki’s body is trapped in coral reefs if she did drown — and that’s why she hasn’t been found.

“The body may be stranded on the reefs, on the coral reefs, which is why the navy has deployed a team of navy and local divers to comb the entire area where there are reefs or corals,” he told the outlet. “So far, unfortunately, we have not been able to find the young woman.”

Chilling surveillance footage captured Konanki and Riibe staggering arm-in-arm and taking selfies around 4:15 a.m., shortly before she went missing from the upscale resort.

Meanwhile, a rep for the resort on Thursday denied media reports that a power outage at the hotel drove Konanki and her pals out on the beach early on the morning that she disappeared.

Dominican Today reported earlier this week that a blackout at the hotel forced Konanki and her friends to leave a disco and spill out onto the beach where she was last seen.

But in a statement, the hotel acknowledged that the power did go out but said it was from early Tuesday, March 4, until shortly before 1:30 a.m. the following day — a full day before Konanki disappeared.

Two hours later the juice was restored to 70% of the resort, and to full power by 2:15 a.m. on March 6, more than two hours after Konanki went missing, the rep said.

“RIU staff acted appropriately upon being notified of the disappearance, fulfilling their duty to
inform the authorities, with whom, as expected, cooperation has been absolute,” the statement said. “RIU is also fully committed to offering any support that the young woman’s family may require during
these difficult days.

“Everyone at RIU shares their pain, and our thoughts and prayers are with Sudiksha Konanki and her family.”

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