Joshua Steven Riibe, the last person seen with Indian student Sudiksha Konanki who went missing from a beach in the Dominican Republic, has been released after days of detention. This came a day after Ms Konanki’s parents asked authorities to declare their daughter officially dead.
Ms Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, was on spring break in Punta Cana when she disappeared two weeks ago.
Mr Riibe, a 22-year-old Iowa resident and a student at St Cloud State University in Minnesota, said that the authorities detained him without any formal charges, adding he was treated unfairly during the investigation.
He filed a habeas corpus petition, a legal action people can take if they believe they are being held unfairly, last week.
According to the court documents, he claimed that Dominican authorities and even the hotel staff where he stayed violated his rights. They restricted his movements without charges filed against him, he added.
“I really want to go home and see my family. I understand I’m here to help but it’s been 10 days,” he said.
Although released, the authorities still have his passport, which they confiscated last week. Mr Riibe’s attorney, Beatriz Santana, said they were requesting a new passport with the US Embassy.
Ms Konanki was last seen at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town on March 6.
The 20-year-old, accompanied by five friends, went out to party at a Punta Cana resort nightclub on the evening of March 5.
Ms Konanki and Mr Riibe were seen together at an outdoor bar before she vanished from a beach on March 6.
Surveillance footage captured them at the club before heading to the beach at around 4:15 am. Most of Ms Konanki’s friends left by 5:50 am, leaving her alone with Mr Riibe.
Another clip from the Riu Republica Resort showed the woman walking arm-in-arm with the man, along a resort pathway. They were accompanied by her friends in the video.
Mr Riibe, who was in custody since Ms Konanki’s disappearance, told investigators he was with her in waist-deep water, when a strong wave pulled them out to sea.
He said he tried to hold Ms Konanki under his arm while swimming back to shore.
Mr Riibe last asked if she was okay but didn’t hear her response. He began vomiting seawater and blacked out on a beach chair.
Ms Konanki’s parents asked Dominican authorities to declare her dead. Investigators believe Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, drowned “and no evidence of foul play has been found,” they said in a letter obtained by CNN.
