PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – A key witness in reference to American school pupil Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance advised Dominican Republic police that he and the 20-year-old College of Pittsburgh pupil have been swimming when an enormous wave hit them, and so they have been swept away, based on a translation of a transcript shared with Fox Information.
Joshua Riibe of Iowa accomplished a virtually four-hour interview on Wednesday with Dominican Republic police as a witness in reference to Konanki’s disappearance and answered greater than 50 questions on what occurred earlier than she vanished on March 6. Riibe is being thought of by Dominican authorities as a witness within the case, not as an individual of curiosity or suspect.
Riibe allegedly refused to reply eight questions, together with his ideas on the disappearance and why he didn’t inform the resort or authorities in regards to the incident. Police have stated there are not any suspects and it is a lacking individual case, not a prison case. Riibe, 24, advised police that he met Konanki that evening, as they have been each staying on the RIU Republica resort for spring break.
Riibe’s lawyer, Beatriz Santana, declined to touch upon the case or her consumer’s interviews with police. Riibe’s household additionally issued an announcement, saying, “At this cut-off date, Our Household goes by way of a really troublesome time proper now, and we’re experiencing a number of unhappiness and ache. We kindly ask for privateness as we navigate this difficult second collectively… We respect your cooperation and understanding.”
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Sudiksha Konanki, 20, from northern Virginia, was first reported lacking on Thursday, March 6, after disappearing from a seashore within the Dominican Republic. (Handout, left, and Defensa Civil Dominicana, proper.)
“At this cut-off date, Our Household goes by way of a really troublesome time proper now, and we’re experiencing a number of unhappiness and ache. We kindly ask for privateness as we navigate this difficult second collectively… We respect your cooperation and understanding.”
Within the early morning hours of March 6, they walked from a resort bar to the seashore outdoors the RIU Republica. Konanki had arrived in Punta Cana on March 3 and had been staying there with 5 different feminine mates from the College of Pittsburgh. Riibe arrived on March 1.
“On the best way to the seashore, she was giving me small kisses on the face,” Riibe advised police, based on a translated transcript.
On the seashore, he and Konanki went within the water whereas two of her feminine mates stayed ashore. Riibe and Konanki have been speaking when a “large wave” hit them, Riibe stated. There was a red-flag warning on the seashore on the time, indicating a warning for folks to not go swimming in tough surf.
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Folks get pleasure from time on the seashore on the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was final seen on March 6 on a seashore outdoors the five-star RIU Republica Resort within the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)
“[W]ith the water’s pullback, it dragged us additional into the ocean,” he stated. “As quickly as we surfaced, we tried to name for assist, however nobody was there.”
When requested what occurred subsequent, Riibe stated he was “getting drained” and “realized she was additionally getting uninterested in swimming.”
“I’ve been a lifeguard, so I grabbed her and began pulling her out. I used to be holding her beneath the arm and swimming to get her out of the water.”
“It took me a very long time to get her out. It was troublesome,” Riibe continued. “I used to be a lifeguard in a pool, not within the ocean. I used to be making an attempt to maintain her respiration the entire time, which didn’t permit me to breathe correctly, and I swallowed a number of water. I may have misplaced consciousness in some unspecified time in the future. Once I lastly touched the sand on the shore, I put her in entrance of me. Then she went to gather her belongings as a result of the ocean had moved them.”
Native authorities seek for lacking US pupil Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was final seen on a seashore outdoors the five-star RIU Republica Resort within the Dominican Republic on March 6, 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)
Riibe stated Konanki was strolling “knee-deep” within the water when he final noticed her.
“I requested if she was okay. I didn’t hear her response as a result of I began vomiting all of the seawater I had swallowed,” Riibe stated. “After vomiting, I regarded round and didn’t see anybody. I believed she had grabbed her issues and left. I felt actually unhealthy and exhausted. I lay down on a seashore chair, fell asleep as a result of I couldn’t go very far, and later awoke due to the solar and mosquito bites. I went to my buddy’s room to get my telephone, then went to my very own room to sleep.”
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Native authorities seek for lacking US pupil Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was final seen on March 6 on a seashore outdoors the five-star RIU Republica Resort within the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)
Riibe additionally advised police he “anticipated to see her the following day” and thought he would “run into her across the space.”
“After I noticed her strolling away within the water, I by no means noticed her once more.”
Riibe stated he was sleeping in his room when his buddy requested him if he had seen Konanki, to which Riibe replied no.
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Sudiksha Konanki in a Fb selfie picture. The 20-year-old College of Pittsburgh junior has been lacking since March 6, when she vanished throughout a spring break journey to a five-star resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha Konanki/Fb)
“I believed she had gone to her room. Her mates texted my buddy since he had one among their numbers,” Riibe stated.
The Iowa man stated his mates went to the seashore the following day and located his “belongings” as a result of he “by no means picked them up,” aside from a pair of sneakers and a room key that he stated “somebody had stolen.”
Exterior view of a police station at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Kirill Clark)
Riibe advised police he had been ingesting vodka with 7Up and tequila pictures, including that the group of ladies he had been with bought “pink tequila pictures” that they drank as a gaggle.
He didn’t reply eight questions on the recommendation of his attorneys, based on the transcript, together with the next:
1. How can we confirm that every little thing you will have stated is true?
2. What did you inform your buddy when he requested in regards to the lacking lady, Konanki-Sudiksha?
3. What do you concentrate on Sudiksha’s disappearance?
4. Did Sudiksha know how one can swim or not?
5. Do you bear in mind if Sudiksha made any gestures or screamed whereas within the sea?
6. Did you inform the authorities or the resort about what occurred with you and the lady on the seashore?
7. Did you inform your buddy what occurred between you and the lady on the seashore?
8. How do you’re feeling about this case?
Seaside loungers sit on the sand by the ocean on the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was final seen on March 6 on a seashore outdoors the five-star RIU Republica Resort within the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace in Virginia, the place Konanki lives, has stated Riibe “will not be an individual of curiosity nor a suspect for functions of a prison investigation. This was initiated as and remains to be a lacking individual investigation, and for that goal he’s an individual of curiosity to our company.”
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace advised Fox Information Digital on Friday it spoke with Riibe on Thursday.
“Detectives from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace (LCSO) performed an in depth interview with Mr. Joshua Riibe on Thursday afternoon, March 13, 2025. His father and legal professional accompanied Mr. Riibe, and he was cooperative. The search and investigation by the Dominican Nationwide Police are persevering with. The LCSO doesn’t plan to have any additional updates right this moment,” a spokesperson stated.
Riibe’s household stated in an announcement: “At this cut-off date, Our Household goes by way of a really troublesome time proper now, and we’re experiencing a number of unhappiness and ache. We kindly ask for privateness as we navigate this difficult second collectively… We respect your cooperation and understanding.”
Navy personnel seek for Sudiksha Konanki, a College of Pittsburgh pupil from the U.S. who disappeared on a seashore in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photograph/Francesco Spotorno)
In January, 4 vacationers drowned close to Punta Cana, when a purple flag warned of robust currents and tough seas, based on The Related Press.
Konanki was final seen on surveillance footage strolling from RIU Republica to the seashore with seven different folks, together with 5 females and two males, round 4:15 a.m. on March 6. She was final seen on the seashore round 4:50 a.m., based on the Dominican Republic prosecutor’s workplace and the resort.
Lodge surveillance footage then reveals a gaggle of six folks, together with 5 girls and one man, returning to the resort from the seashore round 5:55 a.m.
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The younger man beforehand seen with Konanki is seen on surveillance footage getting into the inside of the resort round 9 a.m. on March 6.
Authorities are asking anybody with data to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Workplace at 703-777-1021. To stay nameless, name the Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.
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