Josh Riibe’s distraught family say last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’

The university senior who questioned over the disappearance of spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’, his distraught aunt has told DailyMail.com.

Josh Riibe, 24, was the last person to see Sudiksha before she went missing in the Dominican Republic in the early hours of March 6.

Riibe has told police in the Caribbean country different versions what occurred after the two were seen with their friends and heading to the beach.

But in his tiny hometown of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and in southern South Dakota from where his family hails, no one is buying that he could have hurt the 20-year-old Indian national.

His aunt Theresa Riibe said: ‘He’s a great kid. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.’

And his next-door neighbor Laurel Schreiver told DailyMail.com: ‘I bet my life on it, Josh did not hurt that girl.

‘I’ve known Josh since he was a young boy,’ she added. ‘There is no way he would harm her or have anything to do with her disappearance.’

Powerfully built Riibe was a wrestler who made the Iowa State championships when in high school. He also played guard on his high school football team and competed in discus and shot put for track and field.

 

He was named a person of interest in Sudiksha’s disappearance by the sheriff’s office of Loudoun County, Virginia, where she lives, although they later clarified their statement.

Investigators in the Dominican Republic said they believe she drowned, and while they have questioned Riibe, they have not said he is suspected of any crime.

Riibe was caught on surveillance video with Sudiksha and a group of her friends walking to the beach in Punta Cana around 4am on Thursday last week. 

Her friends left two hours later to go back to their room, leaving Riibe and the University of Pittsburgh med student on the beach.

In one version of events, the 24-year-old told cops that he and Sudiksha went into the sea and were swept away by a wave.

He also told them that he felt sick so got out of the water and went back to his hotel room. The former wrestler also said that he fell asleep on the beach.

The other story Riibe allegedly told the authorities was he saw Sudiksha walking along the beach with the water up to her knees in the direction of where she left her cover-up on a lounge chair.

Riibe was caught on camera returning to his room at 9:55am barefoot and without his shirt.

Jensen Sánchez, a Civil Defense spokesman in the DR said: ‘According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her away, but that is under police investigation.’

President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic told reporters Monday: ‘We are concerned. The latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.’

Sudiksha’s friends left for an excursion the following day and returned around 4pm. When they realized their friend hadn’t returned, they notified hotel staff and the authorities who launched the subsequent search.

Riibe is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. His uncle Richard told DailyMail.com he had a girlfriend at the school, 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

‘Josh and his family have lived next door to us for several years,’ neighbor Schriever told DailyMail.com. ‘There was no way he would harm her or have anything to do with her disappearance. I am in total shock at what I’ve read.

‘He was a good friend of my son’s growing up. He is a super good kid.

‘If he was drunk as I’ve read, that was not the smartest thing to do, but he’s in college on spring break.’

Schriever said she remembers him as being ‘friendly and a good student,’ reiterating, ‘There is no way he would have hurt the girl.’

 ‘I am sure both families are devastated. Josh’s family are great typical small-town Midwest people.’

She said the family has been out of town for several days.

Riibe is the second of three children born to Mike and Tina Riibe, both 46. They live in a five-bedroom, single-story, ranch-style home painted a vivid burgundy color and sitting next to a funeral home.

He went to Central Lyon High School in Rock Rapids, a town of only 2,600 people. He then attended Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he earned a land surveying scholarship before starting at St. Cloud State.

Last August, his mother posted on Instagram: ‘Josh left last week and today was his first day of his senior year at St. Cloud State University!

‘I’m sure he will spend the majority of his time at the library with his head in the books!!’ she added.

Riibe is still in the Dominican Republic where he has been joined by his father.

‘We are not going to comment about other persons, but we do believe that (Riibe) may have been the last person to see or be with the missing person,’ sheriff’s spokesman Thomas Julia said in a statement.

‘This is still a missing person investigation, not a criminal investigation, so he is not a person of interest nor suspect for that latter purpose.’

But the internet has been buzzing with theories on how Riibe could have been involved in Sudiksha’s disappearance.

The speculation appears to be based on Riibe’s story to police on exactly what happened the night of their alleged late-night swim.

One person on Reddit said: ‘The guy saw her being swept away and didn’t alert anyone until 4 PM that day. How can someone be so heartless?’

The user underneath clarified that they read the pair had been in the water and Riibe got sick before passing out in a ‘beach chair’.

But the discourse back and forth on this post took a turn, with people saying this was just one story out his ‘multiple versions’ he had reportedly told the police. Some sympathized it was a ‘terrible accident with very drunk young adults’.

The National Police said Monday that a ‘high-level task force’ had significantly expanded the search, with enhanced participation from ‘the FBI and US Embassy liaison’.

They said they have been exhaustively analyzing security camera footage taken since Sudiksha and her friends arrived in the country.

Police are also re-interviewing everyone who was previously with Sudiksha, including hotel staff. 

The FBI declined to detail its involvement in the case.