The last person who sees the University of Pittsburgh -student Sudiksha Konanki before disappearing into the Dominican Republic had his passport taken by researchers.
Authorities in the Caribbean country seized the travel documents of Joshua Riibe while continuing to investigate the disappearance of Konanki, according to NBC News.
On Sunday morning, Riibe was seen on the beach with researchers, his father and a lawyer, according to the outlet. It is said that Riibe pointed to the ocean, while the security kept someone else away from the location.
The 22-year-old is “limited to the hotel since the investigation started” and has a permanent police escort, his lawyers told NBC News.
“He is not free to leave,” said his lawyers, with his passport seized on Friday.
Konanki was last seen with Riibe on the beach near the Riu Hotel & Resort on March 6. He told researchers that he took her out of the dangerous waters before he lost her in the darkness.
“I just try to help them,” he told NBC News in his hotel. “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
A member of the Burgerdond unit searches for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the US who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Konanki, a 20-year-old pre-media student, was last seen to enter a beach on March 6 at 4.15 am during the holiday with five female college friends during the spring break in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
After her friends returned to their hotel room just before 6 am, Konanki remained on the beach with Riibe – a former high school wrestler from Iowa. It is not immediately clear whether or how the couple knew each other before it met on the Caribbean island.
He told the police that he was going to swim with Konanki, and the two had kissed in the water before a large wave wiped her up, an interview transcript obtained by NBC News.
Civil defense boats are looking for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the US who disappeared on a beach. (AP)
“I kept trying to let her breathe, but that didn't allow me to always breathe, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he said. He also told the researchers that he worked as a lifeguard.
The Sheriff office in Loudon County, Virginia, where Konanki's family lives, has described Riibe as a “person of interest” and has sent detectives to help.
