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The latest: Passport revoked from person of interest in Pitt student's disappearance

Haley Daugherty
| Monday, March 17, 2025 8:28 a.m.
AP
Military personnel search for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the U.S. who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

An attorney for a man identified as a person of interest in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki asked for his release Monday, a day after he spoke with authorities in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican officials told ABC News on Sunday that authorities confiscated the passport of Joshua Riibe, 22, an Iowa native and college student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Officials are continuing to question Riibe about Konanki’s whereabouts.

Konanki, 20, a resident of Loudoun County, Va., vanished before dawn on March 6 in the resort town of Punta Cana.

Riibe is believed to have been the last person to see Konanki alive. The law firm representing him told NBC News that Riibe has been confined to a hotel since the investigation began. He is escorted by police wherever he goes.

Authorities maintain Riibe is not considered a suspect but are examining possible contradictions in his story, ABC News reported.

A judge on Tuesday is expected to issue a ruling on whether to grant Riibe’s release, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information.

Riibe’s parents have accused Dominican officials of detaining their son “under irregular conditions” without translators or legal counsel, saying he has been held at a hotel room under police surveillance for more than a week.

They said Riibe, a college senior, has been repeatedly taken to the police station and interrogated, adding that he has “fully cooperated” with police.

According to a transcript obtained by ABC News, Riibe told prosecutors that he and Konanki met the night before she disappeared. He said they were drinking with friends before heading to the beach on their own around 4 a.m. March 6.

Konanki was last seen at the Hotel Riu Republica.

Video surveillance cameras captured her, five other women and two men heading to the beach. When the others returned just before 5 a.m., Konanki and Riibe were not in the group, CNN reported, citing two sources close to the investigation.

According to ABC News, Riibe told authorities he and Konanki were kissing in the ocean when they were hit by a large wave. He said he tried to pull Konanki out of the water as he sought safety ashore. When they reached knee-deep water, he let Konanki go and she walked away to get her things from the sand, he said.

Riibe said he began to vomit because of the large amount of water he swallowed. When he looked up, he said she was gone, according to multiple published reports.

The Associated Press contributed.


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