Joshua Riibe, the man who last saw missing Indian-American student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic and the ‘person of interest‘ in the case, has told the country’s police that they must let him go home. Mr Riibe has been “in custody” over the past few days and is repeatedly being questioned by authorities in the Caribbean.
However, he has not been charged or named a suspect in the case yet.
Mr Riibe’s lawyer Beatriz Santana in a motion filed on Monday said that the 22-year-old cannot be detained any longer without being charged, reported the New York Times.
Despite not being a suspect, officials have confiscated Mr Riibe’s passport and have kept him holed up at a hotel.
“If he wants to leave the hotel, he cannot do that freely, but with police. His passport is seized despite not being officially charged,” Ms Sanatana told a local media channel.
Ms Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student from Virginia, was last seen on a beach in Punta Cana on March 6. She had travelled with five friends for a vacation – spring break. Mr Riibe, who was not part of Ms Konanki’s original travel group, met them at the resort town. On the night of her disappearance, Ms Konanki and her group partied at a resort disco until 3 am. They headed to the beach an hour later.
Surveillance footage captured the group arriving at the beach around 4:15 am.
By 5:50 am, most of her friends had left, leaving Ms Konanki alone with Mr Riibe. Hours later, Mr Riibe was seen alone, and Ms Konanki has not been found since.
A latest surveillance footage shows Ms Konanki and Mr Riibe at an outdoor bar before she vanished from the Dominican Republic beach. At one point, Ms Konanki can be seen vomiting before returning to the bar. In the same footage, a man, believed to be Mr Riibe, is seen outside the bar, seemingly drunk. Another young man appears to comfort him as Mr Riibe stumbles backward. Both Ms Konanki and Mr Riibe appear to be wearing the same outfits seen in previously released surveillance footage. However, the two did not interact in this video.
According to authorities, Mr Riibe has been giving conflicting statements.
In one version, he said that he left the water after feeling sick and last saw Ms Konanki in knee-deep water, while in another, he claimed he saw her walking along the shore before he passed out. In a third version, Mr Riibe said he vomited in the water and checked if Ms Konanki was okay. In a latest account, he told the cops he rescued Ms Konanki from rough waters.