HIGÜEY, Dominican Republic — A Dominican Republic court is expected to decide on Tuesday whether the last person believed to have seen missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki can leave the country and return to the United States.
Authorities believe Joshua Riibe, a 22-year-old senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, was the last person seen with Konanki before she went missing in the early hours of March 6.
Her disappearance and Riibe’s connection to her case have captivated global onlookers since the 20-year-old vanished this month while on a spring break trip with five female friends.
Riibe’s passport was confiscated by Dominican authorities on Friday, his attorneys told NBC News. Attorneys for the Rock Rapids, Iowa, native confirmed on Saturday that he has been confined to the resort where Konanki had been staying before she disappeared since the investigation began. He is being “permanently escorted by the police anywhere he goes,” they added.
The Dominican Republic National Police did not confirm or deny that Riibe’s passport was confiscated or that he was unable to leave the hotel.
The 2 pm hearing on Tuesday will decide if he can return home.
On Sunday, Riibe was spotted with investigators and his attorney on a beach in Punta Cana. Speaking exclusively with NBC News briefly before the beach walk-through, Riibe said, “I’m just trying to help them out,” adding, “The ocean is a dangerous place.”
Riibe said he was on the beach with Konanki shortly before she disappeared, according to a transcript of an interview he gave to local authorities obtained by NBC News.
According to the transcript, which NBC News translated from Spanish, he said he and Konanki were “in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little” before a wave crashed, taking them both “out to sea.”
“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,” Riibe said.
Despite the struggle, Riibe told investigators he managed to help Konanki get back to shore before she vanished.
“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer,” he said. “I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I thought she’d grabbed her things and left.”
Riibe added that he was surprised to later learn about her disappearance.
The Tuesday court hearing comes a day after Konanki’s parents sent a letter to the National Police to request authorities declare her dead, according to police.
The parents reasoned that “authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned” and that her clothes were found on the beach where she was last seen alive, according to the letter.
“Initiating this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence,” they wrote. “While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.”
Without naming Riibe, the parents added that “the individual last seen with her is cooperating with the investigation, and no evidence of foul play has been found.”
Dominican authorities said on Thursday that no one is considered a suspect and that they do not use the term “person of interest,” as the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Konanki is from, has described Riibe. The sheriff’s office has sent officials to assist authorities in Punta Cana but has no jurisdiction over the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that Konanki’s family expressed their belief that she drowned.
“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,” Sheriff Michael Chapman said in the statement.
Konanki — a junior studying biology at the University of Pittsburgh — was on spring break with friends in the Caribbean nation when she disappeared. They were staying at the Riu República, a five-star hotel in Punta Cana.
In the morning, she disappeared, and her friends left the beach to return to the hotel. According to authorities, Konanki stayed behind with people she met on the trip.
Police have said no signs of violence were found at the beach. Red flags, which indicate “that the sea had a strong current and very high waves,” were flying when Konanki disappeared, according to a hotel spokesperson.
Kirsch, Jones and Catire reported from Higüey, Lavietes from New York.
