Sudiksha Konaki, a 20-year-old American student attending the University of Pittsburgh, has been missing since March 6 after going on a spring break vacation in Punta Cana. The case has had limited leads, but one key piece of evidence comes from a video showing Konaki with friends heading to the beach around 4:15 a.m. local time on the 6th. Among those in the video was Joshua Steven Riibe, who was the last known person with her, aside from the group.
Find out more about him, his status in the case, updates on Konaki, and more below.
Who Is Joshua Riibe?
Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences, is originally from Rock Rapids, Iowa, according to a university spokesperson.
The 22-year-old American is not considered a suspect in the case and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. A spokesperson from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office told the publication that no charges have been filed against Riibe, but he was “a person of interest in what is still a missing person investigation.”
In his fourth interview with prosecutors on March 12, Riibe described how he and Konanki were on the beach when an intense wave swept them out to sea. He recounted struggling to save Konanki while also fighting exhaustion himself.
“It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult,” Riibe said, according to Dominican news agency Noticias SIN. He explained that although he was trained as a lifeguard, he had only worked at pools, not at the beach.
“I was trying to get her to breathe the whole time. That didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times. When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me.”
Riibe went on to describe the final moments he spent with Konanki, saying, “The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting up all the seawater I had swallowed. After vomiting, I looked around, and I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left. I felt very sick and tired. I lay down on a beach chair and fell asleep because I couldn’t go far.”
Riibe has been cooperating with law enforcement, but his parents stated that he was detained “under irregular conditions” and questioned without official translators or legal counsel until March 12. He has remained under police surveillance in his hotel room and has been taken to the police station for multiple interrogations. As a result, his family has hired a lawyer “to initiate legal actions ensuring his safety and the protection of his rights.”
He and Konanki also spent time on the beach “kissing” prior to her disappearance, Riibe told local authorities in an interview transcript obtained by NBC News.
Is a Person of Interest the Same as a Suspect?
No, a person of interest is not the same as a suspect.
A person of interest is anyone the police believe has crucial information about a crime. This individual may be a witness or someone with a close relationship to the victim. After gathering evidence and information from the person of interest, the police may identify a party they believe committed the crime, at which point that person becomes a suspect. A person of interest may help the police find the suspect or may ultimately turn out to be one.
Where Is Sudiksha Konanki?
Konaki, a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, arrived in Punta Cana with her friends on March 3. Her current whereabouts are unknown, and it remains unclear whether she is still alive.
What Happened to Sudiksha Konanki?
According to Konaki’s father, Subbarayudu Konaki, she “went to the beach on March 6 early morning around 4 a.m. with friends and some other guys they met at the resort. After that, her friends came back after some time and my daughter did not come back, did not show up from the beach.”
“So far, the authorities, multiple authorities here in the Dominican Republic have searched in the waters,” he added, according to CNN. “They searched using helicopters and other tools. They also searched in the near bay, bushes, trees. They went multiple times around the same areas.”
A local police source told the outlet that surveillance footage captured five women and one man leaving the beach at the Riu República Hotel at 5:55 a.m., and Konanki was believed to have stayed at the beach with another young man. At 9:55 a.m., the young man was captured leaving the beach in later surveillance video, but Konanki was nowhere to be seen. Konanki’s father encouraged police to investigate whether his daughter’s disappearance is a kidnapping or a case of human trafficking, he told CNN.
New information has emerged suggesting that Konaki was caught in the ocean with Riibe and struggled to make it back to the beach. Her white swimsuit cover-up was also found on a beach chair near the location where she was last seen.