# Key witness in Sudiksha Konanki's disappearance interviewed by police | Fox News

## University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki was last seen swimming in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic around 4 a.m. on March 6



Sudiksha Konanki, 20, from northern Virginia, was first reported missing on Thursday, March 6, after disappearing from a beach in the Dominican Republic. (Handout, left, and Defensa Civil Dominicana, right.)

## Transcript

Joshua Riibe of Iowa completed a nearly four-hour interview on Wednesday with Dominican Republic police as a witness in connection with Konanki's disappearance and answered more than 50 questions about what happened before she vanished on March 6. A source close to the investigation told Fox News Digital Friday evening that Riibe, the only publicly known eyewitness, was considered a person of interest and "key element in the investigation." He is expected to face intensified questioning led by a "high-ranking official with the Public Prosecutor’s Office." Police have said there are no suspects and this is a missing person case, not a criminal case.

Joshua Riibe of Iowa completed a nearly four-hour interview on Wednesday with Dominican Republic police as a witness in connection with Konanki's disappearance and answered more than 50 questions about what happened before she vanished on March 6. A source close to the investigation told Fox News Digital Friday evening that Riibe, the only publicly known eyewitness, was considered a person of interest and "key element in the investigation." He is expected to face intensified questioning led by a "high-ranking official with the Public Prosecutor’s Office." Police have said there are no suspects and this is a missing person case, not a criminal case.

According to the document, Riibe said he and Konanki were talking in the water when a "big wave" hit them. There was a red-flag warning on the beach at the time, indicating a warning for people not to go swimming in rough surf.





Fox News correspondent Nate Foy has the latest on efforts to find University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki on 'The Story.'

"I have been a lifeguard, so I grabbed her and started pulling her out. I was holding her under the arm and swimming to get her out of the water."

— Transcript of Joshua Riibe's interview with police

Riibe said he was "getting tired" and "realized she was also getting tired of swimming."

"It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult," Riibe continued. "I was a lifeguard in a pool, not in the ocean. I was trying to keep her breathing the whole time, which didn’t allow me to breathe properly, and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness at some point. When I finally touched the sand on the shore, I put her in front of me. Then she went to collect her belongings because the ocean had moved them."



Beach loungers sit on the sand by the sea at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)

Riibe said Konanki was walking "knee-deep" in the water when he last saw her.

"I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her response because I started vomiting all the seawater I had swallowed," Riibe said. "After vomiting, I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left. I felt really bad and exhausted. I lay down on a beach chair, fell asleep because I couldn’t go very far, and later woke up because of the sun and mosquito bites. I went to my friend’s room to get my phone, then went to my own room to sleep."



Riibe also told police he "expected to see her the next day" and thought he would "run into her around the area."

"After I saw her walking away in the water, I never saw her again."

— Transcript of Joshua Riibe's interview with police

Riibe said he was sleeping in his room when his friend asked him if he had seen Konanki, to which Riibe replied no.



The Iowa man said his friends went to the beach the next day and found his "belongings" because he "never picked them up," other than a pair of shoes and a room key that he said "someone had stolen."



Beach loungers sit on the sand by the sea at the RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Konanki, 20, was last seen on March 6 on a beach outside the five-star RIU Republica Resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)

Riibe said his parents described him as a kind person with a sense of duty to his community and a good sense of humor.

[](https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/personal-freedoms/proud-american)

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