Police Interview Man In Connection With Disappearance Of U.S. College Student: Reports

More information is coming to light about the hours leading up to the disappearance of a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student who went missing last week during a spring break trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Sudiksha Konanki, who arrived in the country on March 3, was last spotted early Thursday going to the beach near the hotel she was staying at after a night out with her friends, according to multiple news reports.

Konanki and the five women she was traveling with reportedly headed to the beach near their hotel with two men after 4 a.m. local time.

Her friends and one of the men were captured on security footage returning to the hotel around 6 a.m. Konanki and the other man stayed behind, according to CNN and CBS News.

The man was reportedly spotted leaving the beach and going back to his hotel shortly before 10 a.m. local time.

The unnamed man has spoken to authorities about the last time he saw Konanki alive, but offered police different versions of the story, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Authorities are not treating the man as a suspect in the case, ABC and CNN said.

Sources told CNN and ABC News that clothing belonging to Konanki was found on a beach bed, noting that they found no signs of violence.

Jensen Sánchez, a Civil Defense spokesperson, told The Associated Press search efforts on the island’s east coast have involved the use of drones, helicopters and detection dogs.

“The search is underway at sea because it’s presumed she drowned. According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her away, but that is under police investigation,” Sánchez added.

Mike Chapman, the sheriff of Loudoun County in Virginia, which includes Konanki’s hometown of Chantilly, said it’s too early to determine what happened to the student.

“I do know that there was some speculation that she may have drowned,” Chapman told NewsNation. “I think it’s way too premature to make an assumption like that. There has been no sighting of her in any capacity.”

In a separate statement, the sheriff’s office on Monday said it “continues to assist and support U.S. federal law enforcement agencies working with the Dominican National Police and others” on the investigation around the student’s disappearance.

Konanki’s father on Sunday asked authorities to probe “not only the possibility of an accidental drowning, but also the possibility of a kidnapping or foul play.”