MISSING Sudiksha Konanki’s Venmo transactions give a glimpse of the missing University of Pittsburgh student’s final moments before she vanished in the crystal waters of the Dominican Republic.
The Caribbean country’s attorney general and public ministry said they have not ruled out the possibility of foul play being involved in Konanki’s disappearance.
The attorney general’s office said it’s conducting “multiple investigative procedures that extend beyond a possible accidental event.”
Yeni Berenice Reynoso, the country’s attorney general, said, “We are using all our resources to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Konanki Sudiskha Chowdary and understand the distress this case causes her family, Dominican citizens, and Americans.
“As with any disappearance that occurs under the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables.
“The young woman’s family, like Dominican and American society, must be absolutely certain that we will continue to investigate until we have the answers that we, the authorities, are duty-bound to guarantee.”
Konanki, a US resident with Indian citizenship, was last seen on the beach near the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana during the early hours of March 6.
The biology major, 20, along with five of her female friends, were staying at the five-star adults only resort after arriving in Punta Cana on March 3 for spring break.
Venmo transactions viewed by The U.S. Sun showed Konanki issued two payments on March 5 hours before she disappeared.
The first transaction was made at 2:54 pm in which Konanki used a sailboat emoji to describe the payment.
The second was made at 3:38 pm for “Coco Bongo” – a renowned nightclub and show venue in Punta Cana.
Grainy surveillance footage showed Konanki and a group of people walking towards the beach at around 4:15 am on the morning of March 6.
Timeline of Sudiskha Konanki’s disappearance
SUDISHKA Konanki, 20, disappeared during a spring break trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
Here’s a timeline of her last known movements.
- On March 6 at 3 am, Konanki and her five friends were seen dancing at Riu Republica Resort’s disco
- At around 4 am, surveillance captured the group leaving the resort with Joshua Steven Riibe, a 24-year-old from Iowa who they met on the trip
- At around 5:50 am, Konanki’s friends left the beach and headed home, but the now-missing student and Ribe stayed
- Riibe told cops that he passed out drunk on the beach at some point after that, and when he woke up, Konanki was gone
- Konanki was reported missing at 4 pm later that evening by her friends
At around 4:55 am, surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach, leaving Konanki alone with Joshua Steven Riibe, a 22-year-old tourist from Iowa.
Hours later, video captured a shirtless, shoeless Riibe leaving the beach and returning to the resort at around 8:55 am.
Konanki was never seen again. Riibe has been cooperating with local police and American authorities.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, located in Konanki’s hometown in Virginia, has named Riibe a person of interest in the case.
‘RED FLAG WARNING’
The sheriff’s office told The U.S. Sun they consider Riibe, who was also staying at the Riu hotel at the time, a person of interest because he may have been the last person to have seen Konanki.
However, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office stressed Riibe has not been charged with a crime and is not considered a suspect.
“We want to be clean, this is not a criminal case, it is a missing persons case,” a sheriff’s official added.
“Person of interest does not mean suspect. It’s still an active investigation.”
Ginette Bournigal, a senator of Puerto Plata and the president of the Senate Tourism Commission, doubled down on the Dominican Republic’s national police’s early speculation that Konanki drowned in the ocean.
“There were obviously a red flag on the beach. What were those young people looking for with a red flag at four in the morning on the beach,” Bournigal said in an interview with Su Mundo TV.
“A red flag means, everywhere in the world knows this, don’t enter the beach.”
D’Lani Sweeney, who was staying at Riu hotel on the same day Konanki went missing, recalled the waves being dangerously high at the beach.
“I remember the waves being a lot bigger than they normally were,” Sweeney told NewsNation.
“Me and my friends were on the beach and I remember telling them that I was not going to go into the ocean because I know I could swim but not that well enough to feel safe in the ocean.
“I know a couple of friends that did go in but they weren’t in for a while and there weren’t as many people in the ocean as we normally would see.”
Red flags were flying at the time Sweeney was on the beach, video showed.
Nevertheless, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has dismissed those claims saying there is little evidence to support Konanki drowned.
Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, have asked authorities to widen the investigation, including whether their daughter was a victim of kidnapping or human trafficking.
A search team of more than 300 members have been utilizing drone, cadaver dogs, and Navy divers combing through the waters and surrounding areas searching for Konanki.
