The last person to see University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki before her disappearance in the Dominican Republic told authorities he had pulled her out of dangerous waters before losing her in the darkness.
Joshua Riibe, 22, was previously confirmed as a person of interest by Virginia police, though it was clarified he is currently not a suspect. Konanki’s disappearance is currently being treated as an accident, but a missing persons investigation is ongoing.
However, Riibe reportedly did not answer eight questions from investigators on the advice of his lawyers.
Konanki, a 20-year-old pre-med student, was last seen at 4:15 a.m. on March 6 entering a beach while vacationing with five female college friends on spring break in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
After her friends returned to their hotel room just before 6 a.m., Konanki stayed on the beach with Riibe – a former high school wrestler from Iowa. It’s not immediately clear if or how the pair knew one another before meeting on the Caribbean Island.
He told police he went for a swim with Konanki, and the two had kissed in the water, before she was swept up by a big wave, ABC News reported.
“I was a lifesaver. I grabbed her and pulled her out,” Riibe told the Public Ministry, according to an interview transcript obtained by Dominican Republic’s Noticas Sin. “A big wave came and hit us both and as the water returned, it came back and swept us out to sea.”
Riibe said he had put Konanki under his arm to swim back to shore. “It took me a long time to get her out, it was difficult. I was a lifeguard in the pool, not in the sea,” he said, per the outlet.
He added that he had swallowed a lot of sea water during the incident and “could have lost consciousness several times.”
Riibe said he recalled hearing Konanki saying she was going to get her belongings as the water had pushed them away from the area they had set up, but was walking at an “angle.”
“The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was OK,” Riibe said according to the transcript. “I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the sea water I had swallowed. After I threw up, I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left.”
He added that he had thrown up and passed out on a beach bed. When he awoke, Riibe said, Konanki was nowhere to be found.
Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, in Virginia, where Konanki’s family lives, confirmed to The Independent that Riibe was a person of interest in the case.
“This particular individual may have been the last one to have seen her, so is of particular interest,” the spokesperson said. “This is not at this time a criminal investigation, so to be clear, he is not a suspect,” the spokesperson added.
According to The New York Post, Riibe did not answer several questions from police, instead responding: “My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice.”
The questions reportedly related to further details about the night of Konanki’s disappearance including his feelings on the matter, and who he had informed about the incident.
Riibe allegedly provided three different accounts to authorities, the Post reported. However, Technogias Research said there were “no inconsistencies” in the person of interest’s recounting of events, and that translation issues may have been to blame.
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