Man last seen with missing Pitt student in Dominican Republic now a person of interest: officials

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- A person of interest has been identified as the search continues after 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, who went missing nearly a week ago while on spring break in the Dominican Republic tourist town of Punta Cana.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, where Konanki is from, said the man last seen with her is a person of interest. ABC News is not releasing his name at this time, as he has not been charged.

"This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect," the sheriff's office added. "This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest."

This comes after the FBI joined the investigation Tuesday.

"It is our understanding that he is a US citizen who was vacationing in Punta Cana, not part of the group traveling with the missing person," the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said.

Konanki is a legal permanent resident of the United States and an Indian citizen. She was one of six female students traveling in Punta Cana, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Konanki is believed to have died by drowning, officials confirmed to ABC News.

Dominican police said they are re-interviewing people who were with Sudiksha Konanki before she vanished in the predawn hours of March 6 at a beach in front of the Riu República Hotel.

The hotel said in a statement that Konanki's disappearance coincided with a power outage that prompted multiple guests to head to the beach.

Dominican President Luis Abinader told reporters that he lamented the situation.

"We are concerned," he said Monday during his weekly meeting with the press. "All government agencies are searching ... because the latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them."

Investigators say Konanki was walking on the beach with six people after spending time at a nightclub, shortly before she is believed to have drowned in the ocean.

Most of the group went back to the hotel at approximately 5:55 a.m. But one man stayed with her on the beach, according to a Dominican Republic investigative police report.

She and that person went for a swim and were caught by a big wave, the police report said.

The last time Konanki was seen on the beach on security camera footage was around 4:15 a.m. on March 6, the Dominican Republic Public Ministry told ABC News.

RELATED: New details emerge after US college student goes missing while on spring break in Dominican Republic

Her friends went on an excursion that day and didn't realize she was missing until 4 p.m., a spokesperson for the national police confirmed.

The Public Ministry reported that it was first contacted by the U.S. embassy in the Dominican Republic the next day, on March 7.

In the ensuing days, a timestamp discrepancy was identified in the security camera footage, putting the man that Konanki was last seen with heading back to his room at approximately 8:55 a.m. -- not 9:55 a.m. as originally believed.

A national police spokesperson said on Tuesday that the man was cooperating with the investigation, but they would not rule him out as a suspect -- saying that was up to prosecutors. They also would not confirm if the man would be allowed to leave the country.

Officials said the missing student's six friends had also been questioned by police and were not charged with anything.

Outside of Konanki, her friends and the man that is being interviewed by police, no outside participants are believed to have been involved with the suspected drowning incident, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

Abinader defended the safety of tourists in the Dominican Republic, saying the country receives more than 11 million visitors a year and that issues rarely arise.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.