Man who last saw missing student Sudiksha Konanki is leaving Dominican Republic after getting new passport, sources say

Joshua Riibe enters a courtroom in Higüey, Dominican Republic, on March 18 ahead of a hearing to ask a judge for freedom to return home. (Mark Morales/CNN via CNN Newsource)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — The man who is the last person known to have been with missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki left the Dominican Republic on Wednesday evening, after being detained for 10 days, his attorney says.

Joshua Steven Riibe, a 22-year-old Iowa resident and student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, departed from Santo Domingo on a JetBlue flight at 5:39 p.m. ET, the sources said. Tuesday, he was granted judicial permission to leave the island – though he couldn’t immediately leave because, according to a source close to the prosecutor’s office, Dominican authorities still had his passport.

Dominican authorities had confiscated Riibe’s passport during the investigation into Konanki’s disappearance, a source close to the investigation told CNN. On Wednesday, Riibe received a new passport from the US Embassy, his attorney Beatriz Santana said.

“We are pleased to report that Joshua and his father are currently travelling back home to the United States,” Santana told CNN on Wednesday.

Konanki was on a spring break trip to Punta Cana with friends, and was last seen March 6 on surveillance camera going to the beach at the Riu República Hotel. Her parents asked for Dominican authorities to declare her dead, asserting in a letter obtained by CNN that investigators believe Konanki drowned “and no evidence of foul play has been found.”

Riibe attended a court hearing Tuesday to urge a judge to let him return to the United States, arguing Dominican authorities inappropriately detained him without charges after Konanki’s disappearance.

“I really want to go home and see my family,” Riibe testified. “I understand I’m here to help but it’s been 10 days.”

Riibe told authorities he and Konanki walked into the ocean early on March 6. After they were jostled by an intense wave, he helped her back toward the beach, and last saw her walking in knee-deep water before he fell asleep on a beach chair, he told prosecutors, according to Dominican news program Noticias SIN.

Riibe had not been considered a suspect in Konanki’s disappearance and has not been accused of wrongdoing. However, he was kept in a hotel room under police watch – though not officially detained – during an investigation, a source familiar with the probe told CNN last week.

At Tuesday’s court hearing, lawyers representing the government said Riibe was not in custody but was interviewed as a “witness” and “has never been accused.” Riibe’s lawyer, however, argued Riibe had “been restricted in his movement and his freedom.”

The judge sided with Riibe on Tuesday, granting his request for freedom.

Asked whether the US State Department was working to bring Riibe home, spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at a briefing Wednesday: “There is no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens who are overseas. That matters to us. We are aware of the situation certainly and we take seriously our commitment to assist US citizens abroad.”

“It is a situation where I can’t discuss certainly specifics, but we know that the US embassy is in communication with him and his family and his lawyer, and we are providing consular assistance as well,” Bruce added.

The prosecutor’s office informed Riibe it was prepared to return his passport Wednesday, according to Santana. “Although grateful for the Prosecutor’s Office’s decision, Joshua decided, for privacy reasons, to apply for a new one at the U.S. Consulate, which was issued urgently,” Santana said.

Riibe met Konanki at a hotel before going to the beach

Konanki arrived in Punta Cana on March 3, travelling with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, according to the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where her family lives. Riibe said he first met Konanki in the hotel when he and his friend introduced themselves to her group.

The two friend groups went together to a bar, where they drank until “someone suggested we go to the beach,” Riibe said in an interview with Dominican prosecutors last week, according to Noticias SIN, citing a transcript of the interview.

In the early hours of March 6, she was seen on surveillance footage drinking with five women and two men in a Riu República Hotel bar. In the video, Konanki is wearing a white cover-up as she hugs and talks with her friends. Riibe is seen several feet away, bent over and stumbling on the lawn outside the bar.

Then, at 4:15 a.m., a surveillance camera captured the group, including Konanki, entering the beach, police said.

Just before 5 a.m., surveillance footage shows five women and one man leaving the beach, two sources close to the investigation told CNN. Konanki was not among them.

Riibe says he tried to save Konanki from fierce waves

Riibe told prosecutors he and Konanki were hit by an intense wave and were swept out to sea when the water returned, according to Noticias SIN.

During an interview with prosecutors on March 12, Riibe described a harrowing attempt to save Konanki after they were jostled by the wave and she got tired of swimming, according to Noticias SIN, citing the interview transcript.

“It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult,” Riibe said, according to Noticias SIN. He said he was trained as a lifeguard but worked at pools, not at the beach.

“I was trying to get her to breathe the whole time. That didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times. When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me.”

He said he last saw Konanki when she was walking in knee-deep water.

“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting up all the seawater I had swallowed.”

“After vomiting, I looked around, and I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left,” Riibe told prosecutors last week, according to Noticias SIN.

“I felt very sick and tired. I lay down on a beach chair and fell asleep because I couldn’t go far.”

The sun and biting mosquitoes woke Riibe up, he said, and he went to his friend’s room to get his phone and then to his room to sleep.

“I was sleeping in the room and my friend asked me if I had seen her; I told him no, I thought she had gone to her room,” Riibe said. His friend told him Konanki never returned to her room, which Riibe said “surprised” him.

By Wednesday, Riibe had left the Riu República Hotel and was staying elsewhere.

Konanki’s parents asked authorities to declare her dead

On Tuesday, Konanki’s father, Subbarayudu Konanki, thanked everyone who helped search for their daughter and asked for privacy as he and his wife focus on healing and helping their two young children recover. He asked authorities to declare his beloved daughter deceased.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we are coming to the terms with the fact that our daughter has drowned,” Subbarayudu Konanki told reporters while standing next to Konanki’s crying mother, Sreedevi Konanki, in front of their home. “This is incredibly difficult for us to process. We kindly ask you to keep our daughter in your prayers.”

It’s unclear whether the parents’ request can be granted. Typical practice for police in the Dominican Republic to declare someone deceased is to have found a body or evidence of a crime. In this case, investigators have neither, CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said.

“Sudiksha’s family has expressed their belief that she drowned,” the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia said in a news release Tuesday. “While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every way possible as we continue to review the evidence and information made available to us in the course of this investigation.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

Article written by Jessica Hasbun and John Miller, CNN