The search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki led to a new development on the beach where she vanished.
On Tuesday, two police sources told ABC News that Konanki’s clothes were found on a portable beach bed close to where she disappeared.
Konanki was last seen entering the beach early Thursday morning at the five-star Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, according to La Policia Nacional, the country’s national police force.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Konanki lives, told Fox News Digital that Konanki was on the trip with a group of six female Pitt students.
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Prior to her disappearance, Konanki was seen walking on the beach with six people that evening, three Dominican officials told ABC News.
Most of the people in the group returned to the hotel that night, but one person stayed behind with Konanki on the beach into the early morning hours of March 6, ABC News reported, citing an investigative police report.
Dominican police have said they are investigating one of Konanki’s friends and are looking to corroborate claims from a “young man” who was also in the water on the day of her disappearance.
The man reportedly said he entered the water with Konanki, but the rough surf made him sick, so he went back to shore, leaving Konanki in the water.
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In another version of the story, he said he felt sick and left Konanki in knee-deep water before he passed out on the beach. The man additionally claimed he saw Konanki walking on the beach before he fell asleep on the beach, according to reporting from Noticias SIN.
Sources told ABC News that security video captured the man coming back to his hotel room just before 10 a.m.
On Sunday night, Dominican officials told ABC News they believe Konanki drowned.
As for the man who was last seen with Konanki, sources said he is not considered a suspect, ABC News reported. They added that police have found no evidence of violence.
When asked if there is any reason to suspect foul play, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital, “We have to consider all possibilities and U.S. law enforcement is looking at everything.”
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A spokesperson for the hotel Konanki was staying at shared a statement with Fox News Digital stating that its team is “providing full support to the authorities in the search, and an emergency protocol has been activated to ensure that all necessary measures are taken.”
Several agencies are now involved in the search efforts, including the Dominican Republic Civil Defense, firefighters, the national police, the Dominican Navy, and the embassy of India in the Dominican Republic.
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office filed for a Yellow Notice to be issued by INTERPOL – a worldwide police alert for a missing person.
The University of Pittsburgh Police Department also provided an update Monday, saying they are also working with the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in the search efforts for Konanki.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares told “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning his office was “still in the information-gathering stage.”
“Her friends have all been accounted for, that is the good news,” he said. “Obviously, our heart breaks for the family. We want to find her, we want to hopefully find her safe and sound. Right now, there is just so much that we don’t know.”
Konanki is originally from India but is a legal permanent U.S. resident from Loudoun County, near Washington, D.C., according to authorities. She is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown bikini, hoop earrings, bracelets and an anklet.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin, Michael Ruiz, and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
