<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The man last known to be seen with a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sudiksha-konanki-updates-search-intensifies-for-missing-us-student-in-dominican-republic/5e284868-84be-4995-8501-773afa6bec33" rel="" target="_blank" title="University of Pittsburgh student before she vanished from a beach"><span>University of Pittsburgh student before she vanished from a beach</span></a><span> in the Dominican Republic gave more details to local prosecutors about the last time he saw her, Dominican news agency Noticias SIN reported.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared from the beach of the Riu República Hotel in the early hours of March 6, sparking a frantic search involving authorities from the Dominican Republic, the United States and India, where Konanki was born.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The man who was with her at the beach, Joshua Steven Riibe, told prosecutors he and Konanki were hit by an intense wave and were swept out to sea when the water returned, according to Noticias SIN. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2025-cost-of-living-energy-bills-relief-what-to-expect-anthony-albanese-jim-chalmers-explained/8a1f5b5a-35df-4301-bf99-a5853fb484b3"><strong><span>$16 billion cash boost coming for millions of Aussies</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Riibe, a 22-year-old American, is not considered a suspect in the case and has not been accused of wrongdoing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of Riibe's attorneys, Helen Peralta, told CNN on Friday they did not have a statement at this time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During his fourth interview with prosecutors on Wednesday, Riibe described a harrowing attempt to save Konanki after they were jostled by the wave and she got tired of swimming.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/man-last-known-to-be-seen-with-missing-university-of-pittsburgh-student-tells-prosecutors-how-he-rescued-her-from-rough-water/13f1ccc4-07bb-442a-b25b-4b383be50e73" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult," Riibe said, according to Noticias SIN. He said he was trained as a lifeguard, but worked at pools, not at the beach.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was trying to get her to breathe the whole time. That didn't allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times. When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said he last saw Konanki when she was walking in knee-deep water.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn't hear her answer because I started vomiting up all the seawater I had swallowed."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"After vomiting, I looked around, and I didn't see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left," Riibe said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I felt very sick and tired. I lay down on a beach chair and fell asleep because I couldn't go far."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sun and biting mosquitoes woke Riibe up, he said, and he went to his friend's room to get his phone and then went to his room to sleep.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was sleeping in the room and my friend asked me if I had seen her; I told him no, I thought she had gone to her room," Riibe said. His friend told him Konanki never returned to her room, which Riibe said "surprised" him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When asked if he saw Konanki after that night on the beach, Riibe said, "After I saw her walk away while she was walking in the water, I never saw her again."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-st-marys-road-rage-incident-machete/75c1819e-d984-4a15-abeb-a2eeef6728fe"><strong><span>Man charged after allegedly smashing car with machete</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Riibe declined to answer some of the prosecutor's questions, according to the transcript obtained by Noticias SIN. CNN has seen a copy of the transcript.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Detectives with the sheriff's office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Konanki's family lives, conducted an extensive interview with Riibe on Thursday afternoon with his father and attorney present, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Thomas Julia told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The detectives will be turning to the US on Friday, Julia said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Since the incident, Riibe, who was in the Dominican Republic on spring break vacation with a classmate, said he has only been in his room being interviewed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Riibe is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and is majoring in land surveying and mapping sciences, a university spokesperson told CNN. He is from Rock Rapids, Iowa.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His aunt, Theresa Riibe, asked for privacy in a statement to CNN Friday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our family is going through a very difficult time right now, and we're experiencing a lot of sadness and pain," the statement said. "We kindly ask for privacy as we navigate this challenging moment together."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h2><span>The moments before Konanki disappeared</span></h2></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Riibe said he first met Konanki in the hotel when he and his friend introduced themselves to Konanki's group.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Konanki was at the resort with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, according to the sheriff's office in Loudoun County.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two friend groups went to the bar together where they drank until "someone suggested we go to the beach," Riibe said in his interview. Two of the females stayed behind.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Konanki was last seen on surveillance camera with seven other people entering the beach at the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana after 4:15 a.m. March 6, the Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Before heading to the beach, surveillance footage shows the group of Americans – Konanki, five other women and two men – had been drinking in the hotel's lobby around 3 am, a source with the Dominican Republic National Police told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Around 4:55 am Thursday, surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach, while Konanki is believed to have stayed behind with the other young man, two sources close to the investigation told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Surveillance video shows the man leaving the beach area at 8:55 a.m., the two sources close to the investigation said, with no sign of Konanki.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When Konanki didn't return to her room, her companions initially searched for her before notifying authorities, according to the law enforcement source. The group then reported her missing to the hotel staff around 4 pm on Thursday, the Riu hotel chain said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/sport/motorsport/f1-australian-grand-prix-2025-live-qualifying-results-starting-times-pole-position-latest-updates-20250315-p5ljt0.html"><strong><span>'We'll become robots': Verstappen rips controversial new rule</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She had gone to Punta Cana for spring break, her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, said. "My daughter is a very nice girl," he said. "She's ambitious. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Konanki's father wants local authorities "to also investigate other possibilities including whether this is a case of kidnapping or human trafficking," he told CNN on Sunday from Punta Cana. "We don't think she would be able to survive for more than three days in the water and I think something else might've happened to her."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The sheriff's office in in Loudoun County, Virginia, also urged caution around "public speculation" about Konanki's disappearance, according to a Monday news release.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There has been considerable public speculation about what may have happened to Konanki and who may be involved," the sheriff's office said. "We caution anyone from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are committed to ensuring that a thorough investigation is conducted before any conclusions are reached."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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