Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old Iowa man who was last seen with Sudiksha Konanki before her mysterious disappearance from the Dominican Republic resort, has now given the cops an ultimatum that he could not be detained by the police any longer. His attorney Beatriz Santana filed a motion in the court Monday that his client could not be detained any longer without being charged. Riibe has been holed up in the resort and is being grilled by the police as he said he pulled Konanki out of the water and saved her from drowning. But he could not provide any details of what happened next triggering speculations about whether he could actually save Konanki.
The DR cops initially thought Konanki got drowned but as no body was found in the last 10 days, now the possibility of foul play is not being dismissed by the cops.
Riibe has not been taken into police custody as the cops are questioning him at the resort. He has not been named an accused either, but cops said he is a person of interest in the case. The cops started grilling him after he refused to answer their questions citing his lawyer’s advice. Cops have seized Riibe’s passport so that he can not leave the country. However, as of now, he was not even allowed to leave the hotel without cops.
Joshua Riibe’s version of Konanki’s disappearance
Joshua Riibe said his friends’ group parties with Konanki’s group at the bar and then went to the beach. When everyone left the beach, Riibe said he was left alone with Konanki and they were caught in the rough surf. Going by Riibe’s version, he managed to pull her out of the water before he passed out on the beach. He said he asked Konanki whether she was fine but got no reply. And then he slept off at the beach. When he woke up in the morning, she was not there.
Surveillance footage showed Konanki partying with Riibe on the night of her disappearance.
