The way Joshua Riibe tells the tale, he saved the life of missing student Sudiksha Konanki.
But a new report from the New York Post said that the Cloud State University, Minnesota senior was interrogated for hours on end overnight Saturday and into Sunday.
Citing local Spanish-language publications, the report said Dominican Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso and Navy Vice Admiral Agustin Morillo Rodriguez questioned Riibe until 3 a.m. Sunday.
Riibe will be interrogated again Monday, the report said.
Konanki, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, went missing on March 6.
Minnesota college senior Joshua Riibe, 22, last person to see missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki claimed he saved her from the rough Caribbean waters before losing her in the darkness of night.https://t.co/F5dGtjC1iC pic.twitter.com/iwOg3pwIUL
— Blanche Victoria (@tammytabby) March 14, 2025
Riibe cannot leave the island because his passport has been taken from him, officials said.
“Joshua Steven Riibe, who has been identified as a ‘person of interest,’ remains in custody and is being interrogated at the National Police’s Gender Violence Unit to gather more information about the incident,” a government representative said.
Do you believe his story?
“As long as authorities consider Joshua Steven Riibe a key element in the investigation, he will remain in custody,” the representative said.
On Sunday, Riibe was seen on the beach near where Konaki disappeared, speaking with security officials as he pointed out to sea, according to NBC.
“I’m just trying to help them out,” Riibe said. “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
Riibe told investigators that shortly before Konaki went missing they were “in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little,” according to a transcript of the interview. A wave crashed and took both “out to sea,” he said.
“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, noting he is a former lifeguard.
Riibe said he was able to get Konanki back to the beach.
“When I finally touched the sand, I put her in front of me. Then she got up to go get her stuff since the ocean had moved us,” Riibe said, according to ABC. “She was not out of the water since it was up to her knee. She was walking at an angle in the water.”
“The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was OK. I didn’t hear her response because I began to vomit with all the water I had swallowed,” he said. “After vomiting, I looked around and I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had taken her things and left.”
“After I saw her walking away, while she was walking in the water, I never saw her again,” he said.
Video shows last whereabouts of missing college student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic pic.twitter.com/qkBwnlJh4F
— Brett Murphy (@brettmurphyx) March 14, 2025
Riibe has told multiple and conflicting versions of what took place. The U.K.’s Daily Mail said that his family has said the use of different translators at each police interview is to blame for any discrepancies.
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