St. Cloud State student named in missing case during spring break

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — A St. Cloud State University student has been named a “person of interest” in the case of a college student who went missing during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic.

Authorities have been searching the Caribbean island for 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, and Virginia native, since March 6.

On Wednesday morning, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia said a 22-year-old man from Rock Rapids, Iowa was seen with Konanki at a resort before she went missing. A St. Cloud State spokesperson confirmed that the man is a current student at the university.

Loudoun County Sheriff’s officials told KARE 11 that this was not a criminal investigation, “so to be clear, he is not a suspect.”

Police say Konanki disappeared at a beach by the hotel before dawn. She and other guests had headed outside during the power outage.

Her family says her belongings, including a phone and wallet, were left with her friends, although she’s known to always carry her phone.

Konanki and five other female students flew to the country on March 3.

Konanki lives in Chantilly, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and is a citizen of India and a U.S. permanent resident.

Her parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, have sought to widen the investigation into her disappearance.

University of Pittsburgh officials say they’ve been in contact with the Konanki family and authorities in Virginia, and have offered their support in the search.

Dominican police say they’ve been reinterviewing people who were with Konanki before she went missing. Investigators have been using drones, helicopters and detection dogs to search waters off the island’s east coast.

Dominican President Luis Abinader said Monday that the last person known to be with her says a wave crashed into them while they were on the beach.

Civil Defense Director Juan Salas says investigators haven’t found her clothing.