Joshua Riibe, the college senior believed to have been the last person to see University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki before she went missing earlier this month, was briefly detained in Puerto Rico on Wednesday after he was cleared to leave the Dominican Republic.
The 22-year-old Iowa native reportedly encountered difficulties upon arriving in Puerto Rico because his new passport didn’t have a Dominican Republic exit stamp, sources told NotiCentro.
Lawyers for Riibe told People that while local authorities “informed him of their readiness to return his passport” after confiscating it days prior, Riibe had chosen, “for privacy reasons, to apply for a new passport at the U.S. Consulate, which was promptly issued.”
A judge on Tuesday ruled that Riibe would no longer need to be kept under police surveillance and was not considered a person of interest in the case of the missing 20-year-old. People confirmed that despite initial issues with reclaiming his passport, Riibe was granted his travel documents Wednesday and aided by the U.S. State Department in getting home.
Last week, Dominican authorities identified Riibe as a “person of interest” in Konanki’s disappearance in the early morning hours of March 6. Surveillance footage last showed them and a group of friends entering a beach at the Riu Republica resort in Punta Cana at around 4:15 a.m., though the others left the area shortly before 5 a.m.
Riibe later told law enforcement that he and Konanki were then swept out by a wave, only for him to narrowly save the two from drowning. As he was vomiting up seawater back onshore, Riibe said he believed Konanki walked off to gather her belongings before heading back to the hotel. He “never saw her” again.
Last weekend, Dominican news agency published video footage showing Konanki and a man, believed to be Riibe, both getting sick in the hours prior to her disappearance after spending time at the hotel bar.
Authorities and family members have since said they suspect Konanki died by drowning. Her parents have requested Dominican authorities declare Konanki dead so they can “begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence.”