Sudiksha Konanki, 20, was reported missing in Punta Cana. Credit: Facebook

The 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pre-med student, who is an Indian national, disappeared in the early hours of March 6 on the beach of the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, sparking a frantic search by air, sea, and land.

Konanki, who is from Loudon County, Virginia, had traveled to Punta Cana with five female friends she was at school with, and surveillance cameras captured them drinking in the hotel lobby on March 6 before entering the hotel beach along with two men at around 4.15AM according to law enforcement statements.

According to CNN’s sources, cameras later recorded the five women and one man leaving the beach at around 4.55AM, with Konanki appearing to have stayed behind with the remaining man, who was in his 20s.

The outlet reports that surveillance cameras captured him leaving the beach just before 9AM but Konanki was nowhere to be seen.

The 20-year-old was on a Spring Break vacation with five friends. Credit: Facebook

A sarong-style cover-up she had been wearing was later found on a lounge chair on the beach but there were reportedly “no signs of violence”, according to a source familiar with the investigation, as reported by CNN.

The man has been cooperating with police and is not considered a suspect, but is said to have given the police three different accounts of what happened that evening after the pair were left alone together.

He first told authorities that he’d thrown up from the rough waves and asked Konanki if she was ok before he went back to the shore, according to local news.

The second account he gave said that he’d left the water after feeling sick, and that he last saw Konanki standing in the knee-deep water before he passed out.

He then allegedly said that he saw Konanki walking along the shore before he passed out on the sand.

New video evidence cited by CNN says that additional other people were also on the beach around the time Konanki went missing.

Law enforcement officials are now working to identify them and have asked anyone who was in the area at the time to come forward with any information about Konanki.

Agustín Morillo Rodríguez, general commander of the Dominican Republic navy, told the outlet on Wednesday that sea conditions were dangerous on the night Konanki disappeared, with high waves.

Konanki’s disappearance is currently being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Dominican Republic, the police, and four national and international agencies, including the FBI and HSI.

The Public Prosecutors Office told VT.co in a statement: “The Attorney General appreciates the support of the FBI and HSI in response to a request for collaboration from local authorities.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office appreciated this Wednesday the cooperation provided by the United States, through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in the extensive investigation it is conducting as part of the highest-level joint task force investigating the disappearance of student Sudiksha Konanki.

“The prosecution, which is conducting multiple investigative steps that extend beyond a possible accidental event, is keeping the course of the proceedings confidential, in accordance with Dominican procedural regulations for this stage.”

Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso added: “We are utilizing all our resources to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki, and we understand the distress this case causes her family, Dominican citizens, and Americans.

“Like with any disappearance that occurs in the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables.

“The young woman’s family, as well as Dominican and American society, must be absolutely certain that we will continue to investigate until we have the answer that we, the authorities, are duty-bound to guarantee.”

Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, had earlier urged authorities not to rule out that their daughter may have been the victim of a crime or kidnapping, rather than accidentally drowning.

Her father’s formal request noted that Konanki’s belongings, including her phone and wallet, were left with her friends, “which is unusual because she always carried her phone with her,”, as reported by the AP.

Subbarayudu told CNN that he wanted local authorities “to also investigate other possibilities including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking.”

The search for Konanki is ongoing.