DR, Sudiksha Konanki, 20, Punta Cana, 6 March 2025

[NervousNellie]

And according to reports, they had her phone with them. How would they have contacted her to see if she were OK? They had to wait until they returned or skip the excursion.

I doubt they took her phone on the excursion - wouldn't it make sense to leave it in the room for her to find when she returned later?

 

[Cryptic]

Despite all her bravado she came from a sheltered Indian American family. Very possible that she only wanted to make out on the beach with him and not go all the way. He definitely wanted more and thought he was getting more. I can easily see a scenario where he pushed her into the water in a drunken rage after she rebuked his advances for s*x. Maybe he realized the horror of what he did too late and passed out on the beach. Hope I am wrong. JMO.

I can easily see this scenario easily. Except that being enraged and drunk, he might not of, well, pushed her into the water after being rejected. I would also check inland for places where a body could be concealed.

In the end, his explanation of an impulsive and drunken swim into a riptide is very possible. But.... his known seems to lack detail: I was drunk. Stayed with girl on beach. I passed in and out of conciousness. Might of seen her swimming. I guess she got swept away. Go figure....

Though his testimony may of been condensed, I would want more detail: She put her cover up away from the water. We first went in up to our waists. We were holding each other, Got knocked down once or twice by the surf. We were laughing and having fun. Big wave came, and I lost my grip on her.... .

 

[nightowl2728]

I can easily see this scenario easily. Except that being enraged and drunk, he might not of, well, pushed her into the water after being rejected. I would also check inland for places where a body could be concealed.

In the end, his explanation of an impulsive and drunken swim into a riptide is very possible. But.... his known seems to lack detail: I was drunk. Stayed with girl on beach. I passed in and out of conciousness. Might of seen her swimming. I guess she got swept away. Go figure....

Though his testimony may of been condensed, I would want more detail: She put her cover up away from the water. We first went in up to our waists. We were holding each other, Got knocked down once or twice by the surf. We were laughing and having fun. Big wave came, and I lost my grip on her.... .

Very much agreed and appreciate your thought out post.

I think what raises "red flags" to me is JR's seeming lack of concern. Obviously we don't know everything he has actually said to LE, but if he was truly innocent I think it would be something like Cryptic's last paragraph above. As well as info from the hotel and/or her friends that he was looking for her, concerned, etc.

Lack of the above doesn't automatically mean he's guilty, it just raises suspicion. Even for an unintentional crime.

 

[Chimera]

I can easily see this scenario easily. Except that being enraged and drunk, he might not of, well, pushed her into the water after being rejected. I would also check inland for places where a body could be concealed.

In the end, his explanation of an impulsive and drunken swim into a riptide is very possible. But.... his known seems to lack detail: I was drunk. Stayed with girl on beach. I passed in and out of conciousness. Might of seen her swimming. I guess she got swept away. Go figure....

Though his testimony may of been condensed, I would want more detail: She put her cover up away from the water. We first went in up to our waists. We were holding each other, Got knocked down once or twice by the surf. We were laughing and having fun. Big wave came, and I lost my grip on her.... .

Bbm.
I don't think that is far fetched to wonder at all .
So far nothing can really be ruled out, imo.
Omo.

 

[nightowl2728]

Bbm.
I don't think that is far fetched to wonder at all .
So far nothing can really be ruled out, imo.
Omo.

Re; Cryptic's post about inland where a body could be concealed, I agree. What was he doing in those four hours he was missing? I think it's a real possibility he could have been sleeping/passed out on the beach given the early hours and drunkenness. But that's also time to conceal a crime. I've read that the resort is very much hard to get in/out of without video footage, so I do think that would make it difficult to go hide a body somewhere. Especially a non-local without a car, etc. Plus they've been searching with dogs, etc.

 

[whitelilac]

Caught up this morning.
Person of Interest sounds as though he is suspect, though of course that's not necessarily the case.
Upthread it was mentioned in an article that the beach was "pitch black".
Personally I would never go into the ocean in "pitch black" conditions, not even in calm waters, but if one is inebriated, who knows.
And did they never see Jaws? from info online " In Punta Cana, you may encounter various shark species, including the Caribbean reef shark, nurse shark, lemon shark, and tiger shark. However, it's important to note that shark encounters are rare due to the protective coral reef along the coastline."

This is so sad....one minute you're having fun on a holiday, and the next it's all over forever.

 

[Judy Sleuth]

I can easily see this scenario easily. Except that being enraged and drunk, he might not of, well, pushed her into the water after being rejected. I would also check inland for places where a body could be concealed.

In the end, his explanation of an impulsive and drunken swim into a riptide is very possible. But.... his known seems to lack detail: I was drunk. Stayed with girl on beach. I passed in and out of conciousness. Might of seen her swimming. I guess she got swept away. Go figure....

Though his testimony may of been condensed, I would want more detail: She put her cover up away from the water. We first went in up to our waists. We were holding each other, Got knocked down once or twice by the surf. We were laughing and having fun. Big wave came, and I lost my grip on her.... .

Given how drunk he seemed on the video (and still holding yet another drink), I wouldn't hold out much hope for him remembering anything with that kind of detail. At a certain point, alcohol prevents info from getting into short-term memory, let alone long-term.

Alcohol and Memory Loss: Connection, Research, and Treatment

Drinking too much alcohol can affect both short- and long-term memory. Drinking in moderation or giving up alcohol may be necessary to limit memory issues.

www.healthline.com

 

[Shamrockgirl]

What time did the man of interest allegedly wake up and leave the beach? Sunrise in DR is before 7am and depending on weather that would have been hot and swampy- esp if hungover. I can’t imagine him “sleeping in” on a beach despite how crappy he felt

 

[whitelilac]

"In an email to The Post on Wednesday, Chad Quinn, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Konanki’s hometown, confirmed Riibe was a person of interest in the case, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

“This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect,” Quinn said. “It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group traveling with the missing person."
bbm

Missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki seen staggering while arm-in-arm with ‘person of interest’

The footage shows the pair staggering while taking selfies in an early hours walk with pals at the same Domincan resort.

nypost.com

 

[LittleSeaTree]

I find it odd and overreaching. I didn't realize Loudon County Sheriffs were also leading the investigation. Further, this is still a missing person's case. I am glad they are thoroughly investigating her disappearance and that the guy is cooperating.

MOO

I learned watching the Gaby Petito documentary that that’s done-her hometown in NY police got involved..it’s really interesting!

 

[bestill]

The discussion about her phone is interesting and questions. Why did her friends have it? Where was it when they went on their excursion? I can't imagine not having my phone in a foreign country and not being able to reach my travel mates. That seems really strange.

 

[truthfinder2019]

In a previous post of mine above, a video shows the caotic situation due to the power outage that night. People using the plugs in the gym or the lobby to charge their phones, as they did not have any power in rooms and were locked out of these due to magnetic keys not working. Could it be that her phone needed charging so her friends took it for that purpose?

 

[bdawk20]

The discussion about her phone is interesting and questions. Why did her friends have it? Where was it when they went on their excursion? I can't imagine not having my phone in a foreign country and not being able to reach my travel mates. That seems really strange.

Were they even able to charge their phones? There was no power for days, so maybe they were keeping them off and only turning on so often to check messages? It doesn’t seem that odd to me that they had her phone under those circumstances - maybe she or they were worried she’d lose it on the beach?

 

[whitelilac]

What time did the man of interest allegedly wake up and leave the beach? Sunrise in DR is before 7am and depending on weather that would have been hot and swampy- esp if hungover. I can’t imagine him “sleeping in” on a beach despite how crappy he felt

"The camera picked up Riibe, barefooted and without his shirt, as he slowly walked back to his room at 8:54 am - around four hours after he went to the beach with Konanki. "

High school wrestling star who last saw Dominican spring breaker alive

A source close to the investigation told DailyMail.com that Riibe, 22, a powerfully-built former high school wrestler, was 'being cooperative'. He is still in Punta Cana.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I didn't notice in this thread that anyone was assuming he was a local.
Some, including yours truly , asked if she was with a local, or another tourist/fellow student.
24 years old is a bit older for college age but possibly he's not an undergrad student, but rather, a graduate student ?

This is a misconception.

"While many tend to think of the “typical” college student as an 18-22 year-old who lives on campus and attends classes full time, in reality, nearly 40% of undergraduate students are older than 25,"

Who is today’s “typical” college student? - Utah System of Higher Education

While many tend to think of the “typical” college student as an 18-22 year-old who lives on campus and attends classes full time, in reality, nearly 40% of undergraduate students are older than 25, about 58% are working while attending college, and more than one-quarter are parents, according to...

ushe.edu

 

[Amy0077]

I was just in Cancun 3 weeks ago (before college spring break) and was woken up at 4am by people frolicking and laughing in the waves. All week the resort had red flags posted but people were swimming day and night. I was shocked that people were swimming in the rough surf at night but it was probably their first night of vacay and they were excited/ whatever. People think they are invincible- until they aren’t. So sad

https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/missing-sudiksha-konanki-person-of-interest/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR24XvE4Umws6cuncVGU2Pr19I6f1jrzl7P26n2WVpQzNb3njJTL0A8UBGk_aem_IEGwDeCZO8ZtODGJ6Kw4Rg

 

[Sillybilly]

ADMIN NOTE:

Please move on from the judgmental victim blaming comments.

Thank you.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wonder if his story has really changed significantly or not. If he said he witnessed her drowning or possibly drowning, then he needs to be held responsible somehow for not reporting it, IMO. I'm not sure what would be appropriate, though.

We also don't know what he was asked by LE, how he was asked, how he responded...

 

[nightowl2728]

I wonder if his story has really changed significantly or not. If he said he witnessed her drowning or possibly drowning, then he needs to be held responsible somehow for not reporting it, IMO. I'm not sure what would be appropriate, though.

We also don't know what he was asked by LE, how he was asked, how he responded...

Agree with this so much. Even if he didn't intentionally drown her, I find it so odd that he didn't try to check in with anyone to ensure she got back to the hotel safe (if that is truly what he thought happened) - whether by finding her friends (it looked like his male friend was holding hand with her friend on the way back into the hotel that night - I'm assuming they exchanged numbers at some point or at least knew their general whereabouts in the hotel) or by asking hotel staff given it was a possible emergency situation (a possible drowning). Him just moving on with his day as if nothing happened just seems really odd to me, unless he went back to his room and passed out for a long period of time again, hoping what he thought happened didn't...

The above doesn't make him guilty, but it is odd and not morally upstanding, IMO

 

[tarabull]

...“We are aware and believe he is a U.S. citizen who met her there and believe he was at Riu also,” LCSO media relations and communications director Thomas A. Julia told NTD in a March 11 text message.

...Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi, arrived in Punta Cana with two family friends on March 9, and filed a complaint asking the authorities to expand the search for their daughter.

...“There is inconsistent information about this that is being sorted by the FBI and the Dominican Republic National Police,” he added. “The FBI has the lead role for U.S. law enforcement working directly with the Dominican Republic National Police.”

Male Friend of Missing American College Student Is a Person of Interest, Authorities Say

NTD - To uplift and inform society by publishing quality content that embodies integrity, dignity, and the best of humanity.

www.ntd.com

Bumping & Snipping....FWIW

...“There is inconsistent information about this that is being sorted by the FBI and the Dominican Republic National Police,” he added. “The FBI has the lead role for U.S. law enforcement working directly with the Dominican Republic National Police.”

ETA: The "he" = LCSO media relations and communications director Thomas A. Julia