Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
CNN
—
Authorities in the Dominican Republic have confiscated the passport of the man who is the last person known to have been with missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki, according to a source close to the investigation.
Dominican Republic Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso interviewed the man, Joshua Steven Riibe, over the weekend for more than six hours and the questioning is expected to continue Monday with a local prosecutor, the source said. Riibe is not considered a suspect in the case and has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Since Konanki first went missing in the early hours of March 6, Riibe, a 22-year-old from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, has remained under police surveillance in the Dominican Republic. He has been taken to the police station for interrogation multiple times, his parents said in a statement.
CNN has contacted Riibe’s family attorney for comment.
Konanki, 20, disappeared from the beach of the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana while on spring break with a group of friends, prompting an intensive search of land, air and sea that has involved authorities from the US, the Dominican Republic and India, where the student was born.
Surveillance video shows Konanki leaving the hotel lobby with a group of friends at approximately 4:15 am on March 6, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
Riibe told prosecutors he and Konanki were hit by an intense wave and were swept out to sea, according to Dominican news station Noticias SIN.
When asked whether he saw Konanki after that night on the beach, Riibe said, “After I saw her walk away while she was walking in the water, I never saw her again.”
Konanki’s sarong-style cover-up was found on a lounge chair on the beach, but there were no signs of violence, a source familiar with the investigation previously told CNN.
Riibe was seen on the beach early Sunday morning walking with investigators, his father, and his attorney, NBC reported.
Riibe told an NBC reporter, “I’m just trying to help them out,” adding, “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
Michael Chapman, the sheriff of Loudon County, Virginia where Konanki’s family lives, told CNN that Riibe had been “very forthright with our detectives.” Two detectives from the sheriff’s office traveled to the Dominican Republic to interview Riibe.
The sheriff said he didn’t see “any inconsistencies” with what Riibe said.
Dominican officials previously said they were investigating Konanki’s disappearance as a drowning, but prosecutors said last week officials are also investigating whether Konanki’s disappearance could extend “beyond a possible accidental event.”
Correction: an earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Joshua Steven Riibe.
