A person of interest has been identified in the weeklong search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who vanished while on a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic, according to an official in the U.S.
A spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where the 20-year-old biology student is from, told NBC News Wednesday morning that a person of interest has been identified by U.S. investigators.
The sheriff’s office has no jurisdiction in the case, but has sent detectives to Punta Cana to assist with the U.S. side of the investigation.
Dominican Republic authorities have not confirmed if the individual is a person of interest in their investigation, too. Dominican Republic National Police referred questions to the local Attorney General’s office on Wednesday morning.
“This is not the same thing as a suspect as this is not a criminal matter. It is still a missing person case,” sheriff’s office spokesperson Thomas Julia told NBC News.
The individual was interviewed at length in the investigation, Julia said.
The FBI National Press Office also referred questions to Dominican Republic authorities, saying, “The FBI continues to assist our international partners on this matter.”
Konanki had traveled to Punta Cana with five friends from college on March 3. She disappeared after 4:15 a.m. on March 6, after she and her friends were seen on security video entering the beach area of the RIU Republic Resort, where they were staying, Dominican Republic National Police said.
While her friends returned to the hotel, she stayed back on the beach with others who were not from her college, whom she had met on the trip, Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman told NBC Washington on Monday.
