Joshua Riibe speaks out for the first time after being named a person of interest in Sudiksha Konanki case
The Iowa college student linked to the disappearance of spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki has broken his silence as more details about his personal life emerge.
Joshua Riibe, 24, was the last person seen with the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh junior before she went missing from the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana in the early hours of March 6.
Since Konanki vanished, Riibe has been at the center of the chaotic case and had his passport confiscated, forcing him to stay in the Dominican Republic under strict supervision.
On Sunday morning, Riibe was spotted with investigators, his lawyer and his father as the person of interest pointed at the sea, NBC reported.
‘I’m just trying to help them out,’ Riibe told the outlet. ‘The ocean is a dangerous place.’
Riibe has told police conflicting versions of what occurred after they were seen heading to the beach, but he provided more insight in an interview with investigators this week.
The former wrestler said he and Konanki were ‘in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little,’ according to a transcript of Riibe’s discussion with police obtained by NBC.
This comes after his uncle Richard revealed to DailyMail.com that Riibe has a girlfriend at Minnesota’s St. Cloud State University, where he also goes to school.
Joshua Riibe, 24, was the last person seen with the 20-year-old University of Pittsburg junior before she went missing in Punta Cana in the early hours of March 6
Sudiksha Konanki was on a spring break getaway with a few of her friends when she vanished
Riibe was captured on surveillance video with Konanki and a group of her friends walking to the beach in Punta Cana around 4 am on March 6
He went on to claim a wave crashed and whisked them both out to sea.
‘I kept trying to get her to breathe, but that didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,’ he said, adding he used to be a lifeguard.
Riibe, contrary to what he has previously stated, alleged he was able to bring Konanki to safety before she actually went missing.
‘When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me. She wasn’t out of the water, she was knee-deep and walking at an angle out the water,’ he explained.
‘The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her reply because I started vomiting all the water I had swallowed. After vomiting, I looked around. I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left.’
He refused to answer some questions, with officers probing him over how they could be sure what he was saying was truthful.
Riibe was asked about what he told his close friend about Konanki and what he thought about her disappearance.
Investigators also questioned if he knew if Konanki was able to swim, if she made any gestures or cries in the sea, if he called the cops or told the hotel, if he had told his friends about what happened and how he felt about the situation.
To all of those questions, he said: ‘My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice’, before going silent.
The former wrestler has told several, slightly different versions of what transpired the last time Konanki was seen
The med student from Virginia was last seen with Riibe, who she was alone with on the beach after her friends left
Riibe was captured on surveillance video with Konanki and a group of her friends walking to the beach in Punta Cana around 4 am on March 6.
Her friends left two hours later to go back to their room, leaving Riibe and the med student alone on the beach.
In one of Riibe’s retellings of the incident, Riibe said he and Konanki went into the sea and were swept away by a wave.
He has also said he felt sick, so got out of the water and went back to his hotel room. Riibe also said he fell asleep on the beach.
The other story Riibe allegedly told the authorities was he saw Konanki 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’s family explained the conflicting accounts as being the result of a different translator being present at each of three police interviews.
Riibe was caught on camera returning to his room at 9:55 am barefoot and without his shirt. He told investigators he was aghast to learn that Konaki had gone missing.
Her disappearance has baffled investigators in the Dominican Republic, who believe she likely drowned
Riibe was seen talking to law enforcement at beach next to the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic last Monday
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Konaki is from, has listed Riibe as a person of interest, but at this point in the investigation there are no suspects.
Despite being ‘confined to the hotel since the investigation began,’ Riibe’s lawyer told NBC, the US is regarding Konanki’s mysterious situation as a missing persons case, not a criminal one.
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.
