The university senior being questioned about the disappearance of spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki "wouldn't hurt a fly," his distraught aunt told the Daily Mail. Joshua Riibe, 24, was the last person to see Sudiksha before she vanished from a beach in the Dominican Republic in the early hours of March 6.
Riibe has so far given police in the Caribbean nation conflicting accounts of what happened after he and Sudiksha were spotted with friends before heading to the beach. However, in his small hometown of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and across southern South Dakota, where his family hails, people refuse to believe that he could have harmed the 20-year-old Indian national.
Family Claims Innocence
"He's a great kid. He wouldn't hurt a fly," His aunt Theresa Riibe told the Daily Mail. His next-door neighbor Laurel Schreiver told the outlet, "I bet my life on it, Josh did not hurt that girl. I've known Josh since he was a young boy,' she added. 'There is no way he would harm her or have anything to do with her disappearance."
Riibe, who has a strong athletic build, was a high school wrestler who qualified for the Iowa State Championships. He also played as a guard on his school's football team and competed in discus and shot put for track and field.
He was named a person of interest in Sudiksha's disappearance by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, where she lived. However, officials later clarified their statement.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic believe Sudiksha drowned. While they have questioned Riibe, they have not classified him as a suspect in any crime.
Surveillance footage captured Riibe walking with Sudiksha and a group of her friends toward the beach in Punta Cana around 4 a.m. last Thursday. Her friends left two hours later to return to their rooms, leaving Riibe and the University of Pittsburgh medical student alone on the beach.
Contradictory Accounts
Riibe has provided varying accounts of what happened. In one version, he told police that he and Sudiksha went into the ocean but were carried away by a wave. He claimed he felt unwell, left the water, and returned to his hotel room. He also said that he fell asleep on the beach.
In another version, Riibe allegedly told investigators that he saw Sudiksha walking along the shore with water up to her knees, heading toward the lounge chair where she had left her cover-up.
Security footage later captured Riibe returning to his hotel room at 9:55 a.m., barefoot and without his shirt.
Jensen Sánchez, a Civil Defense spokesman in the DR said: "According to the boy who was with her, the waves swept her away, but that is under police investigation."
President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic told reporters on Monday: "We are concerned. The latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them."
The next day, Sudiksha's friends went on an excursion and came back around 4 p.m. Upon realizing she had not returned, they told hotel staff and local authorities, prompting a search operation.
Riibe is currently a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
