Missing US student Sudiksha Konanki’s clothes found at Dominican Republic beach

Clothing believed to belong to the missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki was found on a lounge chair at the Dominican Republic beach. The 20-year-old mysteriously disappeared during a spring break holiday in Punta Cana, where she was last seen more than a week ago.

As the search for her entered the eighth day on Saturday (Mar 15), Konanki’s sarong and flip-flops were found on a beach chair. She was last seen wearing strikingly similar beachwear in the surveillance footage from the night she vanished. The missing persons posters have described the young woman as 5 feet 3 with black hair and brown eyes.

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According to the authorities, the clothes showed no sign of tampering. The investigators speculate that the beachwear was left behind by Konanki before she jumped into the ocean in her brown bikini and drowned. However, the authorities have not ruled out foul play.

The Indian-origin student was reported missing around 4 pm on March 6 by her friends, with whom she travelled to the Caribbean nation.

Person of interest named

The investigators have named Iowa resident Joshua Riibe, 22, a person of interest. Riibe, who is a senior at Minnesota’s St. Cloud State University, was also staying at the RIU Hotel & Resort, the same five-star resort where Konanki and her group of friends were staying.

Konanki was last seen with Riibe near the beach around 4:15 am before she went missing, after her friends called it a night and went back to the hotel. The pair was seen holding hands and walking.

According to New York Post, Riibe told police he saved Konanki from rough Caribbean water before losing her in the darkness of night and parting ways. Reportedly, he has provided police with conflicting accounts of what happened when the two were alone.

While the local authorities have stressed that Riibe is not a suspect, he remained under 24-hour surveillance. The outlet reported citing sources that a high-ranking member of the Public Prosecutor’s Office would intensify interrogations.

Riibe’s parents claim ‘irregular conditions’ of his detention

Riibe also reportedly refused to answer several key questions after his parents got him a lawyer.

According to WTAE, his parents said in a statement, “Despite his full willingness to cooperate, Josh has been detained under irregular conditions and subjected to extensive questioning without the presence of official translators or legal counsel until Wednesday, March 12.”

Konanki’s hometown Sheriff of Loudoun County in Virginia has also named Riibe as a person of interest but cautioned that he was not a suspect.

(With inputs from agencies)