A judge in the Dominican Republic has allowed Joshua Riibe, the last person to see missing college student Sudiksha Konanki, to leave the country.
Judge Edwin Delgado declared following a five-hour hearing Tuesday that “Joshua Riibe is free to leave,” according to a report from the New York Post, which provided the translation from Spanish-language news outlet Noticias Telemicro.
The official ordered the 22-year-old Iowa native to receive his passport.
“I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them,” Riibe told Delgado during the hearing.
“I understand I’m here to help, but it’s been 10 days and I can’t leave.”
Riibe said he was effectively imprisoned at the RUI Hotel and Resort, with his phone and passport confiscated and with police escorting him everywhere he went.
He had not been charged with a crime.
The parents of Konanki said they believe their daughter likely drowned off Punta Cana amid rough surf.
They said they do not believe Riibe was involved in the demise of the 20-year-old.
DR judge rules Josh Riibe is ‘free to leave’ after being held in Sudiksha Konanki disappearance https://t.co/HRimU9stlX pic.twitter.com/ckOQ8JYMPE
— New York Post (@nypost) March 18, 2025
“Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides of the authorities have clarified the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning,” her father told the Post.
“It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned.”
A lawyer from Guzmán Ariza, the firm that represented Riibe, issued a statement celebrating the decision, according to a report from ABC News.
“Guzmán Ariza expresses its deep gratitude to the Dominican judiciary and all institutions involved in the Joshua Steven Riibe case for recognizing and upholding the rule of law and ensuring respect for his fundamental rights as a foreign citizen in the Dominican Republic,” the statement said.
The disappearance of Konanki has garnered worldwide media attention.
The University of Pittsburgh student, who is from Virginia, arrived in the Dominican Republic with friends on March 3 for spring break.
Security footage at a hotel bar showed her and Riibe together a few hours before her disappearance, with both of them possibly throwing up, according to the Post.
Riibe and Konanki were shortly thereafter seen holding hands and taking a selfie together on a walk to the beach with the group.
Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old who was last with 20-year-old student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing, said in court that he’s “ready to go home and go back to my life.”
Riibe, who is not charged with a crime, said Konanki’s family hugged him and thanked him. pic.twitter.com/HhitsnU3LL
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) March 18, 2025
Riibe said the two met that night and went swimming, ultimately kissing in the ocean, according to ABC.
They were then hit by a wave and dragged into the ocean, Riibe asserted.
Lawyers for Riibe filed a writ of habeas corpus, demanding that he be released, since he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Attorneys for the Dominican government, meanwhile, denied that he was being “detained.”
They said he was merely a witness in the high-profile case and said he willingly turned over his passport.
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