Joshua Riibe contradictory accounts of last moments with missing University of Pittsburgh pre-med student, Sudiksha Konanki during Dominican Republic spring break encounter persist amid claims he has a girlfriend in Minnesota at the college he attends.
The family of an Iowa college student linked to the disappearance of a spring breaker holidaying in the Dominican Republic has blamed local interpreters for alleged contradictory narrative accounts amid new details about the 24 year old man’s personal life emerging.
Joshua Riibe, 24, was the last person seen with the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pre-med student, Sudiksha Konanki before she went missing from the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana in the early hours of March 6.
Since Konanki abruptly vanished, Riibe has been at the center of speculation as to the junior college student’s whereabouts with officials in the Dominican Republic now confiscating Riibe’s passport, while insisting the 24 year old is not a suspect along with the case not being a criminal one or that foul play was suspected.
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El joven turista estadounidense Joshua Steven Ribe fue captado en vídeo al momento de salir custodiado por agentes de Politur, luego de que fuera interrogado en la Fiscalía de La Altagracia como la última persona que vio a la turista india Sudiksha Konanki antes de su… pic.twitter.com/wSJB85sU5J
— Noticias RNN (@NoticiasRNN) March 13, 2025
Iowa tourist, 24, not a person of interest or suspect yet has passport confiscated
The stance come amid the Caribbean island’s dilemma of not alienating potential tourists to the Caribbean getaway which last year was hit with a heightened travel advisory by U.S administrators concerning ‘violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault, is a concern throughout the Dominican Republic.’
On Sunday morning, Riibe was spotted with investigators, his lawyer and his father as the person of interest pointed at the sea, NBC reported.
‘I’m just trying to help them out,’ Riibe told the outlet. ‘The ocean is a dangerous place.’
The comments come as Riibe’s uncle, Richard, told the dailymail that the 24 year old has a girlfriend at Minnesota‘s St. Cloud State University, where he also goes to school. The identity of the girlfriend and the dynamic and status of their relationship to date remained unknown.
Addressing claims of contradictory accounts of what happened in the last hours between himself and Konanki, Riibe’s family has since blamed different sets of interpreters for different interview sessions.
In one account, the former wrestler said he and Konanki were ‘in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little,’ according to a transcript of Riibe’s discussion with police obtained by NBC.
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He went on to claim a wave crashed and whisked them both out to sea.
‘I kept trying to get her to breathe, but that didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,’ he said, adding he used to be a lifeguard.
Riibe, contrary to what he has previously stated, alleged he was able to bring Konanki to safetybefore she actually went missing.
‘When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me. She wasn’t out of the water, she was knee-deep and walking at an angle out the water,’ he explained.
‘The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her reply because I started vomiting all the water I had swallowed. After vomiting, I looked around. I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left.’
In one of Riibe’s retellings of the incident, Riibe said he and Konanki went into the sea and were swept away by a wave.
He has also said he felt sick, so got out of the water and went back to his hotel room. Riibe also said he fell asleep on the beach.
The other story Riibe allegedly told the authorities was he saw Konanki walking along the beach with the water up to her knees in the direction of where she left her cover-up on a lounge chair.
Riibe’s family explained the conflicting accounts as being the result of a different translator being present at each of three police interviews.
Of note, Riibe according to investigators, refused to answer eight critical questions, including ‘if Sudiksha knew how to swim, if she made any cries for help, if he told authorities what happened on the beach.’
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Konaki is from, has listed Riibe as a person of interest, but at this point in the investigation there are no suspects. Of note, that office has no jurisdiction in the case.
Despite being ‘confined to the hotel since the investigation began,’ Riibe’s lawyer told NBC, the US is regarding Konanki’s mysterious situation as a missing persons case, not a criminal one.
Investigators in the Dominican Republic said they believe she drowned, and while they have questioned Riibe, they have not said he is suspected of any crime. It remains unclear when Riibe will have his passport returned and when he will be free to finally leave the island…
