Video shows additional people on Punta Cana beach when US student went missing, sources say

New accusation has revealed that different radical were connected the formation erstwhile US assemblage pupil Sudiksha Konanki went missing successful the Dominican Republic, instrumentality enforcement officials assisting successful the probe told CNN, arsenic the hunt goes into its seventh day.

The 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pupil vanished astatine the formation of the Riu República Hotel successful Punta Cana aboriginal connected March 6, sparking a frantic hunt by air, oversea and land, involving authorities from the United States, the Dominican Republic and India, wherever Konanki’s household is primitively from.

Video grounds points to further radical being connected the formation astir the clip Konanki went missing, beyond a young antheral who’d told constabulary he’d been with her there, the instrumentality enforcement officials assisting with the probe said. Investigators are trying to place these radical portion asking that they travel guardant with immoderate accusation astir Konanki.

CNN has not seen the footage.

Because different radical were astir the formation aboriginal connected March 6, without discovering a assemblage authorities indispensable let for the anticipation Konanki whitethorn person encountered 1 oregon much of them.

Dominican officials had antecedently said they were investigating Konanki’s disappearance arsenic a drowning. But the wide prosecutor’s bureau said Wednesday officials are besides investigating whether Konanki’s disappearance could widen “beyond a imaginable accidental event.”

Konanki, who is from Loudoun County, Virginia, traveled to Punta Cana with 5 pistillate friends from her school. The women had been drinking successful the hotel’s lobby aboriginal connected March 6 earlier surveillance cameras captured them entering the edifice formation on with 2 men astir 4:15 a.m., according to a instrumentality enforcement root and constabulary statements.

Cameras aboriginal captured 5 women and 1 antheral leaving the formation astir 4:55 a.m. – but Konanki appears to person stayed down with a antheral successful his 20s, sources told CNN. The surveillance cameras recorded the antheral leaving the formation conscionable earlier 9 a.m., but Konanki was obscurity to beryllium seen.

Konanki’s sarong-style cover-up was recovered connected a lounge seat connected the beach, but determination were nary signs of violence, a root acquainted with the probe told CNN.

In his interviews with police, the young man, who is the past known idiosyncratic to person been with Konanki earlier she vanished, recalled going successful the water, feeling ill, coming retired of the h2o and laying down connected the beach, portion seeing Konanki inactive lasting astir ankle heavy successful the sea, aggregate instrumentality enforcement officials assisting with the probe told CNN. The man’s adjacent recollection was waking up and leaving the formation hours later, they said.

The antheral is cooperating with the investigation, and constabulary are not considering him a suspect.

The nighttime Konanki disappeared, oversea conditions were unsafe with precocious waves, Agustín Morillo Rodríguez, wide commandant of the Dominican Republic navy, told CNN Wednesday.

Konanki’s disappearance comes astir 2 months aft 4 tourists drowned successful Punta Cana astatine the aforesaid formation wherever Konanki was past seen, according to the Dominican Republic’s civilian defence agency. Strong currents swept the tourists disconnected the Arena Gorda beach, wherever the Riu República Hotel is located, the civilian defence bureau said connected January 18 successful a Facebook post.

On Wednesday, the country’s wide prosecutor, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, said investigators were “applying a holistic probe protocol that examines each variables” successful Konanki’s disappearance, “as with immoderate disappearance nether the circumstances of the lawsuit astatine hand.”

Konanki’s household and Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman person urged authorities to see different avenues.

Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, returned to Virginia this week aft flying to Punta Cana with 2 household friends, according to Chapman. Subbarayudu, Konanki’s father, has asked authorities to widen the investigation.

The father’s ceremonial petition notes that the student’s belongings, including her telephone and wallet, were near with her friends, “which is antithetic due to the fact that she ever carried her telephone with her,” helium wrote successful the report, according to vigor presumption WTOP, arsenic reported by the AP. It’s unclear wherever this accusation came from.

Subbarayudu told CNN earlier helium wants section authorities “to besides analyse different possibilities including whether this is simply a lawsuit of kidnapping oregon quality trafficking.”

CNN’s Chris Boyette and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report

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