The sheriff's department from the hometown of missing American college student Sudiksha Konanki has identified a person of interest in her disappearance in the Dominican Republic. According to Thomas Julia, a spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, 24-year-old Joshua Riibe has been named as a "person of interest" in the case.
Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, went missing while on spring break at Punta Cana in Dominican Republic. Julia also said that Riibe has been extensively questioned but emphasized that this remains a missing person investigation rather than a criminal case. As of now, Riibe has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.
Mystery Deepens as Mystery man Appears
"Sheriff [Michael] Chapman wants to make sure the investigation is comprehensive and includes all possible assets and techniques," he said. "We are working closely with the FBI on all of this, and they are working with the Dominican National Police."
According to a source involved in the investigation, Riibe, a former high school wrestler with a strong build, has been "cooperative" with authorities.
He is still in Punta Cana and Dominican officials are currently in possession of his passport, but the source clarified to the Daily Mail that there is no legal barrier that will prevent him from reclaiming it and returning to the United States at any point.
Authorities are also believed to be in possession of Riibe's phone but are awaiting legal approval before they can examine its contents, the Daily Mail reported. Riibe and Konanki were last seen walking toward the beach together around 4 a.m. on March 6.
They were part of a larger group of friends, but by 5:55 a.m., the others had returned to their rooms, leaving Riibe and Sudiksha alone on the beach.
Riibe claims they decided to go for a swim but were caught in a strong wave. He says he managed to make it back to shore before falling asleep, while Sudiksha was never seen again.
Her body has not yet been found, but Dominican authorities strongly believe she drowned.
This came as it was revealed that the FBI has now joined the search for Sudiksha and are re-interviewing people who were with Sudiksha in the early morning hours of March 6.
Family Confident Daughter Is Alive
Konanki's family has questioned the possibility of drowning and urged authorities to investigate other, more troubling possibilities. "It's four days, and if she was in water, she would likely have been strewn to shore," her father father, Subbarayudu Konanki told WTOP News.
Although the video timestamp displayed 5:16 a.m. local time, Noticias SIN confirmed that the surveillance system's clock was incorrectly set an hour ahead. This means the group was actually filmed at 4:16 a.m.
Additional footage captured Johnson and another woman holding hands as they walked back from the beach at 5:05 a.m., ten minutes before the remaining two women left.
Riibe was later seen by the cameras at 8:54 a.m., barefoot and shirtless, slowly making his way back to his room.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, Konanki's friends left the hotel for an excursion that morning. When they returned around 4 p.m., they realized she was missing and promptly reported it to authorities.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department is collaborating with the Indian embassy in the Dominican Republic, which is leading the investigation, as Konanki was an Indian citizen and a permanent resident of the United States.
Konanki, a pre-med student, was on track to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh in 2026, according to her LinkedIn profile.
