Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old Indian-American student, disappeared during a spring break to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The last person who sees her, the 22 -year -old Joshua Riibe – now a person of interest – has provided conflicting reports of the events of the night.
Timeline of Events
Mrs. Konanki, a pre-media of Pittsburgh student from South Riding, Virginia, traveled to the Dominican Republic with five friends on vacation. On March 5, Mrs. Konanki and her friends went out to party in a night club in Punta Cana. They were seen on surveillance images in the club and later walked to the beach around 4.15 am. Around 5:50 am most of her friends had left the beach, so that Mrs. Konanki only left Joshua Riibe, a senior college from Minnesota that she had met that night.
CCTV images of the Riu Republica Resort shows Mrs. Konanki who walks arm-in-arm with a non-infected man, now considered Mr. Riibe, along a resortpad, accompanied by her friends. She was last seen in a white T-shirt, shorts and her hair tied in a ponytail.
Who is Joshua Riibe?
Joshua Riibe is a Senior University of Applied Sciences at St Cloud State University in Minnesota and has followed a diploma in country research. He is a lifeguard of the swimming pool.
Described by his family as a 'friendly, humorous and community -driven young man', Mr. Riibe has been involved in student activities, sports and volunteering, ABC News reported.
He was originally not part of Mrs. Konanki's travel group, but met her in the night of her disappearance.
Joshua Riibe's witness
Joshua Riibe told the researchers that he was at Sudiksha Konanki in the night she disappeared.
According to a transcript obtained by NBC News, Mr. Riibe said that they were “in waist-deep water, talk a little and kiss” when a strong wave pulled them to the sea.
Mr. Riibe, a trained lifeguard of the swimming pool, claimed that he was trying to hold Mrs. Konanki under his arm while he swim back to the coast, and made sure she could breathe. He struggled to float and said, “I recorded a lot of water.”
When they reached shallower waters, Mr. Riibe put Mrs. Konanki in front of him and saw her “walking in the water in a corner”. He asked for the last time if she was in order, but did not hear her reaction when he started surrendering the seawater he had swallowed.
By the time he recovered, Mrs. Konanki was nowhere to be seen. Thinking that she had left, Mr Riibe fainted on a beach chair. Surveillance images later recorded him, who only returned to his hotel hours later.
Joshua Riibe's conflicting statements
Initially, Mr. Riibe gave several versions of events.
Version 1: he vomited, saw her standing and assumed that she was leaving.
Version 2: He felt sick, left the water and saw her for the last time in knee-deep water.
Version 3: He saw her walking along the coast before he fainted.
The passport of Joshua Riibe seized
Authorities have called Mr. Riibe a 'person important', not a suspect. His passport was seized and he remains under police supervision in his hotel.
Declaration of the parents of Joshua Riibe
Albert and Tina Riibe, the parents of Joshua Riibe, have issued a statement that is now being shared by various media.
“We express our deep sorrow and solidarity with the family of Sudiksha Konanki during this painful time. Above all, we want to contribute to the search efforts and understand the fear and uncertainty they are going through, and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as quickly as possible.”
Joshua Riibe “is deeply relieved about her disappearance and has worked completely together from the very beginning on the search and clarification of the facts.”
His parents claimed that he was interrogated until 12 March under “irregular circumstances” without official translators or legal adviser. They claimed that he was limited to his hotel room under the police watch since the investigation began and was repeatedly taken for long interrogations from 6 March, the day Mrs. Konanki disappeared.
Search on the way
Authorities, including the FBI, have launched a large -scale search with the help of drones, helicopters, divers, boats and full site vehicles to find Mrs. Konanki. Dominican officials admit that the opportunities to find her alive are 'minimal'. While the authorities suspect that they are drowning, Mrs. Konanki's family fears that she might have been abducted. Her father has encouraged civil servants to expand the investigation.
