Man last known to be seen with missing University of Pittsburgh student tells prosecutors how he rescued her from rough water
By Holly Yan, Jessica Hasbun, Alaa Elassar and Ruben Correa
(CNN) — The man last known to be seen with a University of Pittsburgh student before she vanished from a beach in the Dominican Republic gave more details to local prosecutors about the last time he saw her, Dominican news station Noticias SIN reported.
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared from the beach of the Riu República Hotel in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search involving authorities from the Dominican Republic, the United States and India, where Konanki was born.
The man who was with her at the beach, Joshua Steven Riibe, told prosecutors he and Konanki were hit by an intense wave and were swept out to sea when the water returned, according to Noticias SIN. Riibe, a 22-year-old American, is not considered a suspect in the case and has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Dominican Republic attorney general Yeni Berenice Reynoso interviewed Riibe on Saturday as part of the investigation into Konanki’s disappearance, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the interview. CNN has contacted Riibe’s family attorney for comment.
Two detectives with the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Konanki’s family lives, traveled to the Dominican Republic to interview Riibe and help clear up “inconsistencies” found during his interviews, Loudon County Sheriff Michael Chapman told CNN on Sunday.
“I think some of the inconsistencies had to do probably with the language barrier – Spanish to English, English to Spanish – during the initial interviews,” Chapman said. “But I think the interview that was conducted, he seemed to be very forthright with our detectives.”
“I don’t see any inconsistencies with certainly what he said,” he added.
During his fourth interview with prosecutors on Wednesday, Riibe described a harrowing attempt to save Konanki after they were jostled by the wave and she got tired of swimming.
“It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult,” Riibe said, according to Noticias SIN. He said he was trained as a lifeguard, but 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.”
He said he last saw Konanki when she was walking in knee-deep water.
“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,” Riibe said.
“I felt very sick and tired. I lay down on a beach chair and fell asleep because I couldn’t go far.”
The sun and biting mosquitoes woke Riibe up, he said, and he went to his friend’s room to get his phone and then went to his room to sleep.
“I was sleeping in the room and my friend asked me if I had seen her; I told him no, I thought she had gone to her room,” Riibe said. His friend told him Konanki never returned to her room, which Riibe said “surprised” him.
When asked whether he saw Konanki after that night on the beach, Riibe said, “After I saw her walk away while she was walking in the water, I never saw her again.”
Konanki’s sarong-style cover-up was found on a lounge chair on the beach, but there were no signs of violence, a source familiar with the investigation previously told CNN. Photos of the light-colored sarong and flip-flops on the lounge chair were obtained by Dominican news station Noticias SIN on Saturday.
Riibe declined to answer some of the prosecutor’s questions, according to the transcript obtained by Noticias SIN. CNN has seen a copy of the transcript.
Since the incident, Riibe, who was in the Dominican Republic on spring break vacation with a classmate, said he has only been in his room being interviewed.
Riibe is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and is majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences, a university spokesperson told CNN. He is from Rock Rapids, Iowa.
His parents, Albert and Tina Riibe, expressed their sorrow for Konanki’s family. “We wish to contribute to the search efforts and understand the anguish and uncertainty they are going through,” they said in a statement obtained by CNN.
Riibe has been cooperating with law enforcement, but was detained “under irregular conditions” and questioned without official translators or legal counsel until March 12, his parents said.
CNN reached out to prosecutors regarding allegations that Riibe was interrogated without a translator or lawyer. Prosecutors said they are not commenting at this time.
Riibe has remained under police surveillance in his hotel room and taken to the police station for interrogation multiple times, which which compelled the family to retain a lawyer “to initiate legal actions ensuring his safety and the protection of his rights,” his parents said.
His parents described Riibe as “a beloved son, brother, and friend, known for his kind nature, sense of humor, and commitment to his community.”
“Our only interest is that due process be respected and that actions be taken with the fairness that the situation requires,” Albert and Tina Riibe said. “We share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as soon as possible.”
Konanki remains a missing person and officials are refraining from any speculation regarding whether she may have drowned, according to Chapman.
“It’s still premature to make any kind of a judgment call on this,” the sheriff said. “And until we know more, we’re not ready to do that.”
The moments before Konanki disappeared
Riibe said he first met Konanki in the hotel when he and his friend introduced themselves to Konanki’s group.
She had gone to Punta Cana for spring break, her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, said. “My daughter is a very nice girl,” he said. “She’s ambitious. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine.”
Konanki was at the resort with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, according to the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County.
The two friend groups went to the bar together where they drank until “someone suggested we go to the beach,” Riibe said in his interview. Two of the females stayed behind.
Konanki was last seen on surveillance camera with seven other people entering the beach at the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana after 4:15 a.m. March 6, the Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement.
Before heading to the beach, surveillance footage shows the group of Americans – Konanki, five other women and two men – had been drinking in the hotel’s lobby around 3 a.m., a source with the Dominican Republic National Police told CNN.
Around 4:55 a.m. Thursday, surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach, while Konanki is believed to have stayed behind with the other young man, two sources close to the investigation told CNN.
Surveillance video shows the man leaving the beach area at 8:55 a.m., the two sources close to the investigation said, with no sign of Konanki.
When Konanki didn’t return to her room, her companions initially searched for her before notifying authorities, according to the law enforcement source. The group then reported her missing to the hotel staff around 4 p.m. Thursday, the Riu hotel chain said in a statement.
Video evidence points to additional people being on the beach around the time Konanki went missing, the law enforcement officials assisting with the probe said. Investigators are trying to identify these people while asking they come forward with any information about Konanki. CNN has not seen the footage.
Because other people were around the beach early on March 6, without discovering a body authorities must allow for the possibility Konanki may have encountered one or more of them.
Konanki’s father wants local authorities “to also investigate other possibilities including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking,” he told CNN on Sunday from Punta Cana. “We don’t think she would be able to survive for more than three days in the water and I think something else might’ve happened to her.”
Dominican officials previously said they were investigating Konanki’s disappearance as a drowning. The night of her disappearance, sea conditions were dangerous with high waves, Agustín Morillo Rodríguez, general commander of the Dominican Republic navy, told CNN on Wednesday.
But the general prosecutor’s office said Wednesday officials are also investigating whether Konanki’s disappearance could extend “beyond a possible accidental event.”
The Dominican Republic navy has deployed divers to search along the coast about 24 nautical miles from the hotel where Konanki was reported missing, Rodríguez said. Authorities are searching along the coast because they believe if the student drowned, her body would be pushed away from the sea into the coast or the coral reefs.
The victim assistance unit of the Loudoun County sheriff’s office met with Konanki’s family to provide them with help as they navigate this “very, very difficult” time, Chapman said on Sunday.
“Last night we had our victim assistance unit go out and meet with the family as well to make sure that they’re getting all the resources and the counseling that they need,” Chapman said. “I mean, it’s just such a tragic situation for the family.”
The sheriff’s office urged caution around “public speculation” about Konanki’s disappearance, according to an earlier news release.
“There has been considerable public speculation about what may have happened to Konanki and who may be involved,” the sheriff’s office said. “We caution anyone from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are committed to ensuring that a thorough investigation is conducted before any conclusions are reached.”
Konanki’s disappearance comes nearly two months after four tourists drowned in Punta Cana at the same beach where Konanki was last seen, according to the Dominican Republic’s civil defense agency. Strong currents swept the tourists off the Arena Gorda beach, where the Riu República Hotel is located, the civil defense agency said January 18 in a Facebook post.
CNN’s Lex Harvey, Caroll Alvarado and Jillian Sykes contributed to this report.
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