Sudiksha Konanki disappearance now officially being probed as possible foul play after officials initially believing the University of Pittsburgh student drowning. Joshua Riibe continues to remain a person of interest but has not been named a suspect in the case as authorities continue to search for her where-abouts/body.
Dominican Republic officials have said they have not ruled out foul play in the disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, 20, as the search for her enters its seventh day.
The attorney general and police in the Caribbean nation said in a release that the search for the missing co-ed now extends ‘beyond an accidental event’ and ‘examines all variables.’
Sudiksha Konanki seen vomiting at bar as Josh Riibe lawyers up
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📍Alrededor de las 8:55 a.m.: Se ve a Joshua Ribe saliendo solo de la zona de la playa, sin camisa y descalzo.
Relatos Inconsistentes De Joshua Riibe:
ha proporcionado a las autoridades declaraciones contradictorias sobre los eventos de esa mañana:https://t.co/otsBKkKkpR pic.twitter.com/iZ8odfBmxH
— Lic. Luis Cab C.P.A (@kapulet) March 12, 2025
‘holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables’
Local media previously reported that authorities came to believe that Konanki, 20, drowned after going into the water after a night out with friends.
‘We are using all our resources to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of Konanki Sudiksha Chowdary and we understand the anguish this case causes to her family, Dominicans, and Americans,’ Dominican Republic Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso said in a statement.
‘As with any disappearance occurring under the circumstances of the case at hand, we are applying a holistic investigation protocol that examines all variables,’ she said.
‘The young woman’s family, as well as Dominican and American society, must be absolutely certain that we will continue to investigate until we have the response that we, the authorities, are duty-bound to guarantee.’
Konanki, 20, an Indian national from Virginia, was staying with friends at the RIU Hotel & Resort in Punta Cana on spring break when she went missing in the early hours of March 6.
More than 300 law enforcement personnel, including from the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security, are involved in the massive search, agencies in both countries confirmed.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in her hometown on Tuesday, identified Joshua Steven Riibe, a 24-year-old tourist from Iowa, and senior at St. Cloud State University as a person of interest — while cautioning that he is not a suspect, nor have authorities determined that a crime was committed. The Rock Rapids, Iowa resident has been cooperating with police.
Troubling contradictions
The notification followed troubling contradictions of an account of an impromptu swim the pair took circa 5am on March 6 in which he first stated Konanki being taken out to sea by turbulent water, along with him passing out and vomiting (after the pair having gone out drinking hours earlier) to believing or ‘presuming’ she had made it back to shore safely to then later telling investigators, he saw the 20 year old wading in knee deep water and walking in the direction of where he clothes were, ‘before passing out’ and returning to his hotel room just before 9am, as caught by surveillance cameras.
At no point did the 24 year old reach out to authorities to express concerns for the well-being or notify authorities of her potential or actual drowning, until surveillance camera images led police to the man following Konanki’s friends reporting her missing later that afternoon.
surveillance footage captured Konanki and Riibe staggering arm-in-arm and taking selfies around 4:15 a.m., shortly before she went missing from the upscale resort.
Riibe’s aunt Theresa Riiibe speaking to the Daily Mail said she believed her nephew, who wrestled and played football in high school, ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ But what was the 24 year old capable under the influence? Never mind troubling video showing the pair staggering hand in hand with his arm below her waist seemingly groping the 5ft’3 20 year old?
*CIRCULA EN REDES SOCIALES. SUPUESTAMENTE LA JOVEN REPORTADA DESAPARECIDA,*
La Joven India Sudiksha Konanki era una joven muy alegré pic.twitter.com/86Rr0jvUYA
— noticias rd noticias rd (@DelBanbino) March 12, 2025
Searching coral reefs
‘I bet my life on it, Josh did not hurt that girl,’ Laurel Schreiver a long time next door neighbor told the dailymail.
A rep for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that Sheriff Michael Chapman met with Riibe’s father this week, and said the office requested that the international law enforcement agency Interpol issue a ‘yellow notice’ — a worldwide missing persons alert — in the case.
Agustin Morillo Rodriguez, vice admiral of the Dominican navy, told Noticias SIN on Wednesday that it’s possible Konanki’s body is trapped in coral reefs if she did drown — and that’s why she hasn’t been found.
‘The body may be stranded on the reefs, on the coral reefs, which is why the navy has deployed a team of navy and local divers to comb the entire area where there are reefs or corals,’ he told the outlet. ‘So far, unfortunately, we have not been able to find the young woman.’
The National Police said Monday that a ‘high-level task force’ had significantly expanded the search, with enhanced participation from ‘the FBI and US Embassy liaison’.
They said they have been exhaustively analyzing security camera footage taken since Sudiksha and her friends arrived in the country.
Police are also re-interviewing everyone who was previously with Sudiksha, including hotel staff.
The FBI declined to detail its involvement in the case. In the interim, Konanki’s family have implored officials to examine the possibility that their daughter was kidnapped or abducted into human trafficking and her life in peril. To date, no sighting of the 20 year old, alive or dead has come to fruition, to add validity to authorities, family and the wider social media community’s assertions of what may have happened.
The disappearance of Konanki follows that of 3 other tourists who drowned earlier at the Punta Cana resort this year, with the body of only traveler turning up.
