The family of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki have asked police in the Dominican Republic to declare her deceased, a police spokesman said Monday night.
Dominican Republic National Police spokesperson Diego Pesqueira said Konanki’s family has sent the agency a letter requesting a declaration of death, according to NBC News.
It’s been almost three weeks since her disappearance while on a spring break trip in the Dominican Republic.
In the letter, Konanki’s parents said they trust authorities’ investigation, reports TribLive news partner WTAE.
Her parents added that Joshua Riibe, the last person investigators believed saw Konanki, is cooperating with the investigation, and acknowledged there is no evidence of foul play. The family is prepared to comply with any necessary formalities or documentation.
Dominican officials told ABC News on Sunday that authorities have confiscated the passport of Riibe, 22. He also was reportedly questioned extensively.
The law firm representing him told NBC News that Riibe has been confined to the hotel since the investigation began. He is escorted by police wherever he goes.
His lawyers told ABC News they believe Riibe has been detained illegally and want to prevent him from being placed in custody. They have requested a habeas corpus hearing to challenge the “unlawful detention,” ABC News reported.
Authorities maintain Riibe is not considered a suspect, but are examining possible contradictions in his story, ABC News reported.
According to a transcript obtained by ABC News, Riibe told prosecutors he and Konanki met the night before she disappeared. He said they were drinking with friends before heading to the beach on their own around 4 a.m.
Konanki was last seen at the Hotel Riu Republica.
Video surveillance cameras captured her, five other women and two men heading to a nearby beach about 4:15 a.m. March 6, CNN reports. When the others returned just before 5 a.m., Konanki and Riibe were not in the group, CNN said, citing two sources close to the investigation.
According to ABC News, Riibe told authorities he and Konanki, 20, kissed in the ocean right before they were both hit with a large wave. He claimed he tried to pull him and Konanki out of the water to safety.
He said when they were in knee-deep water, he let Konanki go and she walked away to get her things from the sand. Riibe said he began to vomit after the amount of water he took in. He allegedly fell asleep on the beach.
Riibe was seen with investigators and claimed to be helping them with the investigation, NBC News reported Sunday night.
Interpol has issued a yellow alert for Konanki on Thursday.
“The Interpol yellow notice was done quickly to help in the event Ms. Konanki sought to leave or was taken from the (Dominican Republic) to another nation,” Thomas Julia, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office in Loudon County, Va., where Konanki lives, told TribLive.
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