Joshua Steven Ribe, Iowa wrestling star gives conflicting accounts of the last time he saw Sudiksha Konanki, missing University of Pittsburgh student alive as her family now fear abduction and reject the 20 year old ever drowning.
A mystery man caught on surveillance along the ‘dream’ getaway shores of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, has been identified as an Iowa ‘wrestling star’ last seen with a missing University of Pittsburgh pre-med student on spring break.
Joshua Steven Ribe (also being spelt Joshua Steven Riibe), 24, a powerfully-built former high school wrestler, was ‘being cooperative’ during investigations as to the plight of missing woman, Sudiksha Konanki, 20. Ribe, an Iowa native and who had been on vacation on the Caribbean getaway is still in Punta Cana but was not considered a suspect.
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Dominican authorities are currently in possession of Ribe’s passport however there is nothing to stop him lawfully retrieving it and flying back to the US, local media reported.
Ribe and Konanki were seen striding towards the beach together at around 4am on March 6. They were part of a larger group of her friends who had been out drinking earlier that evening. At 5.55am, the others went back to their rooms, leaving Riibe and Sudiksha on the beach.
According to Riibe, the pair went for a swim but were caught by a large wave. Ribe says he clambered back to the shore, having swallowed a lot of water, vomiting and then passing out and not to wake up until later that morning just before 9 a.m.
In previous conflicting accounts, the New York Post reported Ribe giving investigators three different and contradictory versions of what happened. First, he told police that, after rough surf, he threw up and returned to shore. He would then ask Konanki if she was OK. Ribe would then state that he felt sick and leaving the water. Konanki remained in the water, knees-deep, before Ribe passed out. Finally, Ribe told the police that he saw Sudiksha Konanki walking along the shore to pick up her clothes before passing out.
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Did Sudiksha Konanki drown? Why didn’t Ribe report the near drowning or actual drowning to police?
During initial interviews, Joshua Steven Ribe told investigators after getting out of the water, vomiting and then passing out and presuming Konanki to have also gotten out of the water. During those interviews, the 24 year old never acknowledged seeing her coming back to shore after the two allegedly being caught in ‘rough waters.’
It would be the last time Sudiksha was seen alive.
During previous interviews, Ribe claimed both he and Konanki entering the sea waters only to be engulfed by a wave. Ribe claimed managing to get out, vomiting and falling asleep on the sand. He said when he got out of the water, he thought Konanki had done so, too. The 24 year old in a new adaption has since claimed ‘seeing her’ in knee deep water walking along the shore after the pair being caught in rough waters, before ‘passing out.’
The 20 year old has not been seen since, with authorities yet to recover her body or any indication that she might still be alive and in precarious circumstances.
Not immediately clear is why Ribe declined to reach out to authorities to relay rough waters and concerns about the welfare of Konanki who in previous accounts the 24 year old had admitted seeing struggling in rough waters. Ribe would later abridge his account and go from claiming he ‘believed’ her to have gotten out of rough waters to now saying he had ‘actually’ seen her get out of rough waters, before passing out. In neither instance, did Ribe seek to ascertain whether Konanki had actually survived treacherous waters or seek out authorities.
Despite questions of what actually occurred, authorities declined publicly announcing if they suspected foul play.
Dominican police continue to state amid ongoing investigations that the pre-med student likely drowned.
Nevertheless, the missing woman’s family are less certain, pointing to the lack of recovered body (had Konanki actually drowned) pulling up to shore. The woman’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, is calling for an investigation and an ongoing search for his missing daughter. The family suspect human trafficking.
‘She’s not found, so we’re asking them to investigate multiple options, like kidnapping or abduction,’ the father told WTOP.
A private investigator who probed murder victim Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance disagrees with the police theory that Sudiksha drowned.
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Inaccurate surveillance and Iowa man turning up on his own several hours later that morning
While the video time stamp showed 5:16 am local time, Noticias SIN, confirmed the surveillance system’s clock was inaccurately set an hour ahead – making the time the group was filmed at 4:16 am.
Surveillance picked up Riibe, barefooted and without his shirt, as he slowly walked back to his room at 8:54 am.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told Noticias SIN that Konanki’s friends left the hotel for an excursion in the morning.
They returned around 4pm and noticed that Konanki was missing before alerting authorities.
All five people who were seen in the video with Konanki earlier that morning were interviewed a second time, the Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement.
‘Employees of the hotel where the young woman and her companions were staying are also part of this process in order to gather information that allows corroboration of their movements, interactions and any relevant data in this search process,’ the police said.
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The US State Department is working with the Indian embassy in the Dominican Republic, which has taken the lead in the investigation as Konanki is an Indian citizen who was a permanent resident of the United States.
While authorities suspect the likeliest scenario is that she drowned in the rough conditions, her family are urging them to consider other lines of inquiry until and unless her body washes ashore.
Foul play has not been confirmed in Konanki’s disappearance according to Dominican Republic authorities.
The US State Department has in place a Level 2 of 4 travel advisory for the Dominican Republic, advising Americans to use increased caution and not display signs of wealth. ‘Violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide, and sexual assault, is a concern throughout the Dominican Republic,’ the agency said in a June advisory.
