The young man who was previously considered a person of interest in the disappearance of 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, of Loudoun County, Virginia, has reportedly left the Dominican Republic, multiple sources report.
He boarded a flight out of the country on Wednesday evening, local news organization Noticias SIN reported.
His attorney told CNN a new passport was being efforted from the U.S. embassy in the Dominican Republic after it was confiscated.
The man, believed to have been the last person to see Konanki on March 6 during her spring break vacation in Punta Cana, was no longer considered a person of interest on Wednesday morning by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, WTOP learned.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is the only agency that named the man as a person of interest; but they have no jurisdiction in the Dominican Republic.
Spokesman Thomas Julia said the man was cooperative and forthcoming during a March 13 interview with Loudoun County detectives in Punta Cana.
The sheriff’s office will continue to offer support to Konanki’s family as the investigation in the Dominican Republic continues, Julia said. A judge in the Dominican Republic ruled Tuesday that the young man can no longer be detained.
The young man, who WTOP is not naming because he has never been named a suspect, told the judge, “I understand that I’m here to help, but it’s been 10 days.”
“I really want to go home and see my family,” the young man said.
His attorneys argued he was being illegally detained, in what amounted to house arrest in the Riu Republica hotel.
Judge Edwin Rijo Delgado agreed, granting the habeas petition motion filed by the young man’s lawyers, saying as a witness, rather than a suspect, he must be able to continue his life as normal, even as the investigation into Konanki’s disappearance continues.
The judge will give his full reading of the ruling on March 28, which will include more details of the missing persons investigation.
The young man’s immediate future remains unclear.
Parents mourn daughter
Konanki’s parents, who live in South Riding, Virginia, are grieving the loss of their daughter, in what they believe was an accidental drowning during her spring break trip to the Dominican Republic.
Speaking in front of their home, Subbarayudu Konanki and his tearful wife Sreedevi told reporters that after being fully briefed by investigators in the Dominican Republic, “We are coming to terms with the fact that our daughter has drowned.”
Konanki said the realization “has been incredibly difficult for us to process,” and asked “that you keep our daughter in your prayers.”
A pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, Sudiksha Konanki 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.
Thirteen days of an exhaustive search have provided no clues to her whereabouts. Investigators in the Dominican Republic have said they believe she drowned.
Earlier this week, Konanki’s parents sent a letter to police in the Dominican Republic, asking them to legally declare their daughter dead. A similar letter from the parents was received by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
“Sudiksha’s family has expressed their belief that she drowned,” Sheriff Mike Chapman wrote in a statement. “While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every way possible as we continue to review the evidence and information made available to us in the course of this investigation.”
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