The search for missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki has taken another surprising turn. Joshua Riibe, the last person seen with Konanki, was detained again in Puerto Rico due to an issue with his travel documents.
Riibe, a 22-year-old student from Iowa, was stopped by airport officials at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport while trying to board a connecting flight back to the United States. The authorities flagged his paperwork because his temporary travel documents from the Dominican Republic had not been properly stamped.
Riibe’s father, Albert, expressed frustration over the delay, saying, “I’m just a dad who had his son taken away… We just spent two weeks trying to stay together.” This latest setback comes after a Dominican judge allowed Riibe to leave the country, following a nearly five-hour hearing.
Riibe had been questioned multiple times by Dominican authorities about Konanki’s disappearance and had his passport confiscated. During the hearing, he pleaded with the court to be allowed to return home, saying, “I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them.”
Konanki, 20, went missing on March 6 during a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic. Surveillance footage showed her walking toward the beach with Riibe and a group of friends. While most of the group left the beach around 5:55 a.m., Riibe was seen returning to his hotel room alone, without Konanki.
In recent days, Konanki’s parents have requested that authorities officially declare their daughter deceased, believing that she drowned in the rough ocean waves. However, private investigator T.J. Ward has expressed doubts about the drowning theory, saying, “I don’t believe that she drowned. I think something else happened.”
As the search for Konanki continues, her family remains focused on finding answers and processing their devastating loss. Riibe’s detention has added another layer of complexity to the case, and it remains to be seen how this will impact the ongoing investigation.
