Search efforts advanced to their second week Sudiksha KonankiA university student at the University of Pittsburgh who disappeared in early March during a trip to the Dominican Republic Resort Town Cana.
Details around Konanki’s disappearance They have begun to emerge as international research continues. Here are what we know so far about your case.
Konanki seen on video walking on the beach
20 -year -old Konanki is from Chantilly, Virginia, Washington, DC, Suburb and Assist to Pittsburgh University. It has a permanent residence in the United States and the citizenry in India. He arrived in the Dominican Republic for the spring of March 3 and was on vacation with a group of friends, five other women, according to researchers and their parents.
She has lacked Since Thursday, March 6, after the surveillance video showed him, three of his friends and two other north -Americans Walk to the beach area Outside the Hotel Riu República. The video was around 4:15, according to researchers from the Dominican Republic.
Energy interruptions at the hotel could have promoted customers to move outdoors during that time, the hotel said in a statement. A previous surveillance video showed Konanki and one of his friends hugging at the hotel bar.
Dominican Civil Defense
One of the men in the group walking on the beach has been identified as Joshua Riibe, 22, an American university student. In the pictures, Konanki and Riibe are walking with their arms.
The video shows the other four people returning to the hotel, but Konanki and Riibe stayed behind on the beach, a police source said. Konanki and Riibe’s latest scholar in the water took place at about 4:50 AM, according to Loudon County Sheriff Mike Chapman, whose office in Virginia is involved in the investigation.
Riibe told the police that he and Konanki were dragged into the ocean by a large wave and both fought against the Aspres seas. He said that he believed that Konanki came out of the water but was not true, according to a person with direct knowledge of Riibe’s statements to researchers in the United States.
It is presumed to be the last person to see Konanki alive.
The disappearance of Konanki is so far investigated as a case of missing people, not a criminal investigation.
The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic said that the researchers were exploring if Konanki drowned, but not discarding the possibility of dirty play.
Chapman said that “it is difficult to say” if there are directions that the disappearance of Konanki was something else than an accident.
“We know that at about 4:50 am it was the last sighting we had of them in the water. We do not know what happened after that,” Chapman said in an interview “CBS Mornings”. “And we also do not know what happened between the moment when [Riibe] He claimed to have left the water and the time he left the beach, so he is very difficult to say. It would be speculative on my part to assume or assume anything right now. ”
Konanki’s family seeks closure
Loudoun County Sheriff’s office told CBS News that Konanki’s family has requested to be declared deadHe thanked the researchers for his work and expressed a desire to close after his disappearance in the Dominican Republic.
The family provided the application in writing to the Xerife office, according to spokesman Thomas Julia. Julia said the family made a similar request to the Dominican authorities.
Konanki’s family did not respond immediately to a comment request. CBS News has learned that his written request referred to Riibe’s cooperation with researchers and the lack of tests collected until they suggest that the gross play was involved in the disappearance of Konanki.
Chapman said that the family has expressed their belief that he drowned.
“Although a final decision to make this statement rests with the authorities of the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every possible way, as we continue to review the evidence and information made at our disposal in the course of this research,” he said.
Riibe returns us after tackling the questions
Riibe had been confined to a Punta Cana hotel for more than a week when he faced his question during the investigation, with the officers who drained him anywhere. A judge of the Dominican Republic ruled on March 18 that Riibe should be released from police surveillance.
The law firm represented by Riibe, Guzmán Ariza, had promoted legal documents for his freedom, given the absence of any criminal accusation, which led to the sight. In court, Riibe argued the judge that he was detained inappropriately.
“I really want to go home and see my family,” said Riibe. “I understand that I am here to help, but it has been 10 days.”
His lawyers said earlier that the authorities confiscated Riibe’s passport when he faced questioning, including the direct interrogation of the Dominican general prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso. The judge’s ruling did not include an immediate decision on the question of returning Riibe’s passport, and when he could initially return to the United States it was unclear.
A lawyer representing the college student said that on Wednesday, March 19, Riibee had won a new Passport from the United States Consulate and was back home with his father. The lawyer said that after the hearing yesterday he concluded that the release of Riibe was ordered and the Altagracia Prosecutor’s Office informed him that he was willing to return the passport.
“Although grateful for the prosecution’s decision, Joshua decided, for privacy reasons, to request a new one in the United States Consulate, which was urgently issued,” said Riibe’s lawyer.
Riibe and his parents, Tina and Albert Riibe, extended the “deep penalty and solidarity” with Konanski’s family in a statement released through their lawyer.
“Above all, we want to contribute to the search efforts and understanding the anguish and uncertainty that they are going on and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be as soon as possible,” the statement said. “Joshua Riibe is deeply dismayed by his disappearance and has fully cooperated in the search and clarification of the facts from the outset.”
Chapman told “CBS Mornings” that Riibe was “very close” to the Sherife detectives who traveled to the Dominican Republic to talk to him and that he did not “seemed to doubt to answer any of the questions we launched.”
Chapman said that there was “nothing that would make us feel like something false Joshua”.
Originally from Iowa, Riibe is a university senior at St. State University Cloud of Minnesota, where he is pursuing a title in land poll.
His family in his statement described him as “a beloved son, brother and friend, known for his nature, a sense of humor and a commitment to his community.”
They also shared concerns about the “irregular conditions” of their arrest at Punta Cana, where they, as they said, had been “undergoing extensive issues without the presence of official translators or legal advice until Wednesday, March 12.” The family retained a lawyer “to initiate legal actions by ensuring their security and protection of their rights throughout this process”, according to the statement.
Intensify search efforts
More than 300 police and other officials, with the support of the FBI, are looking for the air, the sea and the land to locate it, said the Dominican president, Luis Abinader. The National Police of the Dominican Republic said they have gathered a new “high -level commission” to monitor the case, and Interpol has it issued a global police alert At the request of researchers.
“We are concerned,” Abinader said at a press conference on March 10. “All government agencies are looking for … Because the most recent information we have of one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, who says according to reports is that a wave, while on the beach, he was crashing against them.”
The National Police of the Dominican Republic said in a statement on March 11 that “they were re -interpreting people aimed at the victim’s proximity at the time of their disappearance.” Researchers said that individuals included “hotel employees where Konanki and his teammates were staying, in order to collect information to corroborate their movements, interactions and any relevant details for research.”
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