The passport of Joshua Riibe, an American associated with the disappearance of a student from the University of Pittsburgh, was confiscated by the Dominican authorities as part of an ongoing investigation, his lawyers said NBC News.
Ribe was perhaps the last person who saw Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old Pittsburgh Junior, who went to Punta Cana on March 3. with five female friends for the spring holidays. She was last seen around 4:15 a.m. on March 6th after going to the beach with friends.
Riibe only briefly spoke to NBC News in the resort, in which Konanki had remained before her disappearance, and said: “I'm just trying to help them.”
Riibe “has been limited to the hotel since the beginning of the investigation. He is constantly accompanied by the police wherever he goes. So no, he is not free to go, ”his law firm told NBC News on Saturday.
The National Police of the Dominican Republic did not immediately respond to the NBC News request for a comment.
Breaking – Joshua Riibe told @Nbcnews “I'm just trying to help you … the ocean is a dangerous place” if it is approached at Riu Republica.
More: His lawyers tell us, “his passport was confiscated … he can't go free.”
Not an immediate comment from the DR National Police.
– Jesse Kirsch (@jessekirschnews) March 15, 2025
In an interview this week with local investigators, Ribe said he was shortly before she disappeared.
He said they were “in hip deep water, talked and kissed a little,” said a protocol of the interview received by NBC News. A wave crashed and brought them both at sea.
“I kept trying to make them breathe, but that didn't allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he said, telling the investigators that he used to work as a lifeguard.
Riibe said he brought Konanki back ashore before she was missing.
“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was doing well. I didn't hear her answer,” he said. “I looked around and didn't see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and gone.”
He told the authorities in the Dominican Republic that he was shocked to find out later that it was missing.
The Sheriff office of the Loudoun County, in which Konanki comes and where her family lives, described Ribe as a “person of interest”. The sheriff's office is not responsible for the investigation, but sent Detective to Punta Cana to help on the US side of the examination.
The authorities in the Dominican Republic said on Thursday that they did not use the term “person of interest” in this case, and at that time nobody was considered a suspect.
The US authorities say that this is the case of a missing person and not a criminal matter.
Ribe, 22, from Rock Rapids, Iowa, is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
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