Authorities in the Dominican Republic seized the passport of Joshua Riibe, the man who was last seen with missing student from the University of Pittsburgh Sudiksha KonankiFox News has learned.
Riibe’s lawyers said on Saturday that Riibe’s travel document was taken “a few days ago” by the authorities. He is not mentioned a suspect in the disappearance of the 20-year-old student, but the authorities have said that he is a “person important” in the case that they consider as a matter of missing person.
“It was seized by the authorities when he tried to look at a few days ago when the investigation began,” said Guzmán Ariza lawyers, a Dominican Republican law firm. “Since then he has not had access to it.”
Although Rock, who comes from Rock Rapids, Iowa, and is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, has not been accused of a crime, the 22-year-old has been closely examined since Konanki’s disappearance on March 6. A source near the research told Fox News Digital on Friday that Riibe, the only known eye science, is like a “key element in the research.” Key element in the study. ”
The American student Sudiksha Konanki was missing during vacation with her friends in Punta Cana on March 6, 2025. (Graphics from Fox News)
Konanki, a resident of Loudon County, Virginia, Stayed in the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana with five colleague Pitt students before they disappeared. She was last seen on a surveillance camera who entered a beach with five other people last Thursday after 4.15 am.
All group members except Konanki came back around 6 am, while the 20-year-old with Riibe remained on the beach.
On Wednesday, Riibe completed an interview with almost four hours with detectives and answered more than 50 questions about the events prior to the disappearance of Konanki.
Missing American in Dominican Republic: no suspects as a search for Sudiksha Konanki reaches a week
Riibe’s parents, Albert and Tina Riibe, have denounced their son’s research and say that he “was detained under irregular circumstances and has been subject to extensive interrogations without the presence of official translators or legal advisers until Wednesday 12 March.”
“He stayed in his hotel room under police supervision and has been repeatedly brought to the police station since 6 March, where he was interrogated for long hours,” said the statement shared by the Riibes lawyers. “This situation has seriously concerned in his family, so that we have retained a legal adviser to initiate legal actions to guarantee his safety and protection of his rights during this process.”
Allegedly, Riibe told different stories about the disappearance of Konanki for the local authorities. According to Local Outlet -Nieuws without, Riibe told the police that he was going to swim with Konanki, but left the waves after he got sick, leaving Konanki in the water.
Sudiksha Konanki appears in an undated photo on her Tiktok profile. She was last seen on March 6 in a resort beach in Punta Cana. (@Sudikshakonanki/Tiktok)
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In a second version of the story, he reportedly said that he left Konanki in knee-deep water before he was sick on the beach. In a third story, Riibe said he saw Konanki walking on the beach before he fell asleep.
Bryan Llenas from Fox News Digital, Audrey Conklin and Michael Ruiz have contributed to this report.
