Sudiksha Konanki. Photo:
Joshua Riibe is speaking out for the first time since he was named a person of interest in the disappearance of college student Sudiksha Konanki.
Riibe, a 22-year-old American tourist who may have been the last person to see the University of Pittsburgh junior before she went missing in the Dominican Republic on March 6, broke his silence on the disappearance in a brief interview with NBC News published on Saturday, March 15.
Speaking with the outlet from the Riu Republica, the Punta Cana resort where both he and Konanki were staying prior to her disappearance, Riibe said, “I’m just trying to help them out,” seemingly referring to those involved in the search.
“The ocean is a dangerous place,” he added, per the outlet.
Riibe, a senior at Minnesota’s St. Cloud State University, has been “confined” to the resort since the investigation into Konanki’s disappearance began, his law firm told NBC News on March 15.
“He is permanently escorted by the police anywhere he goes,” the law firm said, adding that “he is not free to leave.”
Sudiksha Konanki. Sudiksha Konanki/Facebook
Riibe, who has not been accused of or charged with any crime, was named a “person of interest” by the sheriff’s office in Loudoun County, Va., where Konanki lives, PEOPLE confirmed last week. Dominican authorities, meanwhile, have not publicly named him a person of interest.
It has not been confirmed by law enforcement officials whether Riibe was the last person to see Konanki, but he told authorities on March 12 that the pair spent time on the beach “kissing” prior to her disappearance, according to an interview transcript obtained by NBC News.
Riibe told local investigators that he and the college junior were “in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little,” when a wave crashed, sweeping them both “out to sea,” according to a transcript obtained by the outlet. “I kept trying to get her to breathe, but that didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,” he recalled.
A former lifeguard, Riibe also told investigators he got himself and Konanki back to shore safely, and was surprised to learn that Konanki was missing later on.
“The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her answer,” he said, per NBC News. “I looked around and didn’t see anyone. I thought she’d grabbed her things and left.”
Sudiksha Konanki. Facebook
A source in the prosecutor’s office previously told PEOPLE that Riibe’s story changed over the course of four interrogations with local law enforcement officials. (The source did not specify the ways in which his recollections changed.)
The St. Cloud State senior maintained, however, that he first met Konanki at Riu Republica, and that they had been “partying” together with a group of friends, according to a source.
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Riibe’s family previously told local outlet WTAE that their son is “deeply dismayed by” Konanki’s disappearance “and has fully cooperated in the search and clarification of the facts from the very beginning.”
The Konanki family, meanwhile, told USA Today that they are “going through an incredibly difficult time” and “are deeply saddened.”
“We kindly request privacy as we cope with this challenging moment together,” the family added.
Konanki was part of a group of six female University of Pittsburgh students traveling for spring break this month. They later reported Konanki missing when she never returned from the beach on March 6. Following her disappearance, Dominican National Police said an “exhaustive search was launched by sea, air and land,” to no avail.
A source close to the investigation said Konanki’s clothes were discovered on a chaise lounge on the beach. Dominican authorities believe that Konanki drowned, per an earlier report from ABC News, though her body has not been recovered.
