Eight days after the disappearance of 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, of South Riding, Virginia, a person of interest identified by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has described the hours before and after the University of Pittsburgh student was last seen heading toward the beach during a spring break vacation in Punta Cana.
Konanki, a pre-med student at Pitt, was last seen on surveillance video, walking with a group of friends to the beach at 4:50 a.m., on March 6, after a party at the Riu Republica hotel, where she and five of her friends from college were staying.
On Thursday, Dominican news organization Noticias SIN reported details of the person of interest’s account given to local prosecutors this week about his interactions with Konanki before and after she disappeared.
Wednesday, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office named the young man who was last seen with Konanki — pictured on hotel surveillance video — as the person of interest in the college student’s disappearance. The young man is not considered a person of interest by Dominican investigators.
Citing a 50-plus-page transcript of an undated interview including the person of interest, his attorney and prosecutors, the Dominican news agency quoted select details of the man’s story.
The young man said he first met Konanki that evening, during a party at the Riu Republica resort, where he, Konanki, and her five female friends from Pitt were staying during a spring break vacation that began March 3, according to her father, in a WTOP interview.
“My friend and I were drinking, we came home from a party, went to Pink Lobby, introduced ourselves to some girls and there she was,” said the young man, according to Noticias SIN’s reporting of the words in the transcript. “We went to get drinks, since we weren’t exactly at the bar — we all went to the bar, meaning the girls and my friend.”
WTOP is not naming the person of interest, his friend, or Konanki’s friends since none have been identified as suspects in the case. There have been no arrests in connection with Konanki’s disappearance.
“Someone suggested we go to the beach,” the young man said. “I took off my shoes and socks, emptied my pockets, took off my shirt, put them on a chair, and went into the sea,” according to the translation provided by the news organization.
Of the group of six people — two men and four women — two women didn’t go into the water, he said.
“We were waist-deep in the water, talking and kissing a little,” he said. “When we were walking to the beach, she was giving me little kisses on the face.”
While previously publicized surveillance video showed the group walking to the beach and the pair holding hands, it’s not clear whether any of the recorded video depicts kissing.
‘I was a lifeguard, so I grabbed her and pulled her out’
The young man said a huge wave hit them both, and swept them further away from shore.
“As soon as we were able to surface, we tried to call for help, but there was no one there,” he said.
The person of interest said he struggled to get Konanki to safety.
“I was a lifeguard, so I grabbed her and pulled her out. I held her under my arm and swam to get her out of the water,” according to the transcript.
He said it took a “long time,” and “it was difficult” to get Konanki out of the water.
“I was a lifeguard at the pool, not at the sea. I was constantly trying to get her to breathe, but that didn’t let me breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he said. “I almost lost consciousness several times. When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me.”
The person of interest said when they were knee deep in the water, and Konanki was walking at an angle and then “she went to gather her belongings.”
“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the seawater I’d swallowed. After I vomited, I looked around, didn’t see anyone, and thought she’d grabbed her things and left,” he said, according to the transcript.
He said he fell asleep on a lounge chair, and “woke up because of the sun and mosquito bites.”
Several hours after entering the beach, surveillance video showed the young man returning to the hotel, alone.
He said he went to his friend’s room to get his phone, then returned to his room to sleep.
The person of interest declined to answer eight questions during the interview, including, “how can we verify that everything you have said corresponds to the truth,” as well as “did you inform the authorities or the hotel what had happened to you and the girl on the beach,” and “what do you think about Sudiksha’s disappearance?”
In each case, he replied “My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice.”
Loudoun county detectives conducted a separate interview, the following day.
“Detectives from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office conducted an extensive interview with (the person of interest) on Thursday afternoon, March 13, 2025,” said LCSO sheriff’s spokesman Thomas Julia. “His father and attorney accompanied (the young man) and he was cooperative. The search and investigation by the Dominican National Police are continuing.”
WTOP’s Juan Herrera assisted in this report.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
