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The 22-year-old Joshua Riibe was the last person who had seen Sudiksha Konanki before she went missing and has now been named “a person of interest” in the case.
22-year-old Joshua Riibe was the last person who had met Sudiksha Konanki before she disappeared. (Courtesy: X)
The police officials in the Dominican Republic have shifted their focus to 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, who had last seen University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki before she disappeared, and are now grilling him to find more clues in this case.
On Sunday, Dominican Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso and Navy Vice Admiral Agustin Morillo Rodriguez interrogated Riibe till nearly 3 a.m., reported the Spanish-language outlet Noticias SIN.
He has been identified as a “person of interest” and the authorities are considering him as a key element in the investigation.
Who Is Joshua Riibe?
Joshua Riibe, who hails from Iowa, is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He is pursuing a degree in land surveying and is also a pool lifeguard.
His family has described him as a “kind, humorous, and community-driven young man” and as a student, he also participated in student activities, volunteer work, and sports, ABC News reported.
He was not supposed to travel along with Konanki as per the plan but had met her on the night when she went missing.
What Did Joshua Riibe Tell Investigators So Far?
During the investigation, Riibe accepted that he had met Konanki on the night she disappeared.
As reported by NBC News, Riibe claimed that they were “in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little” when they were pulled into the sea by a strong wave.
A trained pool lifeguard, Riibe said that he made efforts to hold Konanki under his arm and was swimming back to shore while ensuring that she was breathing.
He claimed that he found it difficult to stay afloat and said, “I took in a lot of water.”
After reaching shallower waters, Riibe claimed that he kept Konanki in front of him and then saw that she was “walking at an angle in the water.”
He said that he asked her if she was fine but failed to hear her response. Riibe claimed that he began vomiting because he had swallowed seawater.
Riibe informed the authorities that by the time he recovered, Konanki was not seen anywhere.
Riibe believed that she had left and then passed out on a beach chair. In the surveillance footage, he was later seen going back to his hotel.
Riibe Records Conflicting Statements
The statements recorded by Riibe conflicted and had multiple versions of events. In the first version, he said that he vomited, saw Konanki standing and then assumed that she had gone.
In another version, he said that he felt sick, came out of the water and then saw her in knee-deep water. In the third version, he said that he saw Konaki walking along the shore before passing out.
Also Read: Search For Sudiksha Konanki, Who Went Missing In Dominican Republic, Continues. What We Know So Far
In a statement, the parents of Riibe – Albert and Tina Riibe – said, “We express our deep sorrow and solidarity with the family of Sudiksha Konanki during this painful time. Above all, we wish to contribute to the search efforts and understand the anguish and uncertainty they are going through, and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as soon as possible.”
They added that Joshua Riibe “is deeply dismayed by her disappearance and has fully cooperated in the search and clarification of the facts from the very beginning.”
Timeline Of Sudiksha Konanki’s Disappearance
Konanki, who is a pre-med University of Pittsburgh student from South Riding, Virginia, had gone to the Dominican Republic on vacation with five friends.
On March 5, Konanki had gone to a resort nightclub in Punta Cana with her friends and was seen at the beach at around 4:15 am in surveillance footage.
By 5:50 am, most of them had left and Konanki was just with Joshua Riibe. She was seen walking arm-in-arm with an unidentified man in a CCTV footage, which is believed to be Riibe.
- Location :
Dominican Republic
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