(NewsNation) — New video footage appears to shows missing college student Sudiksha Konanki with a man who has been under the attention of authorities at an outdoor bar before she disappeared.
Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, disappeared from a beach in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, and her disappearance is being investigated by local authorities and by authorities from her hometown in Loudoun County, Virginia.
The videos were published by local media outlet Noticia SIN and appear to show Konanki and her friends at a resort bar near a man who resembles Joshua Riibbe.
In one of the videos, Konanki and her friends are at the bar before a girl identified as Konanki puts her hand over her mouth and excuses herself, appearing to vomit on a patch of grass a few feet away. She then walks back to the bar and jumps up and down before hugging her friend.
The man who appears to be Riibe is separately seen bending over and struggling outside a bar while another man comforts him. The two do not interact in the footage.
Another video appears to show Konanki and several other girls in the lobby of the Riu República Hotel a few hours before she disappeared.
Local authorities initially said they believed Konanki drowned but have not ruled out the possibility of foul play in her disappearance.
Local police previously said Riibe is not a suspect, although the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office believes he may have been the last person to see Konanki before she disappeared. Authorities in the Dominican Republic later pulled Riibe’s passport, and he is not allowed to leave the country.
Riibe told authorities he pulled Konanki out of rough water in the ocean. He said he vomited seawater up after the incident and felt sick before falling asleep on a beach chair. Riibe said he believed Konanki left the beach before he passed out and woke up some time later.
Four tourists drowned at the same beach nearly two months prior to Konanki’s disappearance. The night she disappeared, there were rough seas and high waves, authorities said.
Konanki’s family has urged authorities to consider all possibilities, including foul play, in the case.
