DR, Sudiksha Konanki, 20, Punta Cana, 6 March 2025

[branmuffin]

My ongoing opinion stays consistent

I find it more weird that her friends didn’t report her missing and they had her belongings and phone than I do that the drunk puking passed out guy didn’t.

If it was pitch dark at the beach maybe they thought if they went in the water they'd never find their stuff again in the dark. You go in the water and without realizing it you are already a good 100 feet or so away from where you went in.

 

[priyaya]

If it was pitch dark at the beach maybe they thought if they went in the water they'd never find their stuff again in the dark. You go in the water and without realizing it you are already a good 100 feet or so away from where you went in.

Ugh just imagining the disorientation, that late, no lights anywhere. How terrifying if you were to get swept out. Do we know if there was a fullish moon? Cloud cover?

 

[branmuffin]

By bravado, I mean hanging out alone with a strange man in a foreign country at 4 am on a dangerous beach known for riptides. While both are drunk to the point of throwing up. Are you telling me every student who goes on spring break does that?

I think perhaps her naivete and being really drunk had more to do with her decision making ability than bucking cultural norms.

 

[Hanoi2009]

Ugh just imagining the disorientation, that late, no lights anywhere. How terrifying if you were to get swept out. Do we know if there was a fullish moon? Cloud cover?

According to my research, it looks like it was a quarter moon headed to a half moon, so not pitch black…Moon Phases

 

[branmuffin]

Another thing to think about is why JR changed to "person of interest" from Loudon County when he wasn't before? Like what specific facts made that change?

Being a person of interest doesn't necessarily mean suspect. Lots of times it does pan out that the POI is the perp in a death or disappearance but at this point in time he's really the only person who can provide information about SK after last being seen on camera. His multiple explanations could be the result of fractured memories of trying to recall something while being really drunk or an attempt to hide culpability. If it's the latter I would think he'll eventually give an indication that he's lying.

 

[CityKid]

I found this tide chart and saw that the low tide for today was around midnight and high tide was at 9:16 am. I don't know much about tides and how much of a difference in tides woukd be needed to wash away a person. Could SK have passed out/fallen asleep at the edge of the beach and have been washed out to sea before she could have woken up? As unlikely as this seems for a possible scenario, I'm just throwing this out there. Get Punta Cana tide times

I like this theory. MOO they didn't look completely wasted in the videos, but definitely unsteady. But if they drank a lot before leaving the party, within an hour it could be really hitting them (especially if they're not heavy drinkers). Wading into the water, maybe sitting really close to the shore without realizing how high the water could get with the combo of a rising tide and the waves, sounds like a possibility. SK is much smaller than JD and perhaps was more "out of it" than he was.

 

[Hanoi2009]

Being a person of interest doesn't necessarily mean suspect. Lots of times it does pan out that the POI is the perp in a death or disappearance but at this point in time he's really the only person who can provide information about SK after last being seen on camera. His multiple explanations could be the result of fractured memories of trying to recall something while being really drunk or an attempt to hide culpability. If it's the latter I would think he'll eventually give an indication that he's lying.

Depending upon the experience of the LE investigating and questioning JR, I believe they would know the difference between these two scenarios regarding his explanations…

 

[CityKid]

If this happened unpremeditated, as is most likely, there won’t be anything on his phone. My point is - if her body washes up to shore in a week, they probably still won’t be able to say definitively if she drowned on her own or was pushed into the water and drowned. Only if she was killed before being dumped in the water, they will be able to tell. So most likely, they have no case against him. This was a spur of the moment thing. They won’t find anything on his phone. JMO.

BBM. I agree. MOO in many cases, spring breaks are for partying rather than exchanging phone numbers or even last names. I think this is just a tragedy. Per the story I linked, JR is free to leave the country ("Dominican authorities are currently in possession of his passport however there is nothing to stop him lawfully retrieving it and flying back to the US, the source explained."). I honestly believe he was so wasted he is struggling to remember everything that happened.

High school wrestling star who last saw Dominican spring breaker alive

A source close to the investigation told DailyMail.com that Riibe, 22, a powerfully-built former high school wrestler, was 'being cooperative'. He is still in Punta Cana.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Emi]

Who is Joshua Riibe, 24-year-old 'person of interest' linked to missing Indian-origin Sudiksha Konanki's disappearance - The Times of India

US News: Indian-origin Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old pre-med student from Chantilly, Virginia was last seen while on spring break with five friends at the Ri.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[branmuffin]

Depending upon the experience of the LE investigating and questioning JR, I believe they would know the difference between these two scenarios regarding his explanations…

That's true. What's also true is that some LE feeling public scrutiny to solve what is perceived as a crime engage in the type of interrogation that makes people give coerced confessions under duress.

 

[Bounceycat]

I'm not sure how much being a POI vs suspect allows us to sleuth, but IMHO they have his age wrong - he's 22 and graduated from high school in 2021.

 

[ttjo]

I found this tide chart and saw that the low tide for today was around midnight and high tide was at 9:16 am. I don't know much about tides and how much of a difference in tides woukd be needed to wash away a person. Could SK have passed out/fallen asleep at the edge of the beach and have been washed out to sea before she could have woken up? As unlikely as this seems for a possible scenario, I'm just throwing this out there. Get Punta Cana tide times

Its the undercurrent that's always scared me. Ive never been to Punta Cana, but in hawaii those under currents will suck you right back into the water. You might get past one wave, only to have another one come before you even have a chance to recover.
if you're drinking, and far eough into the water. I don't know if you could get yourself out of that before you just tire yourself out.

 

[Beans]

It wouldn’t have been completely black dark, and sunrise would have been at around 6:30/6:45 so the light would have been changing at the time they were left alone.

If something did go badly wrong and he harmed her, there is no way he would’ve then been off for a nap on the beach so you’d have to hope for witnesses or camera footage of whatever he did to fill the time until he went back to the hotel. Or even witnesses who didn’t see him in a location he maybe claimed to be sleeping or similar.

Same goes for the drunken snooze really, someone would presumably have seen him sleeping on the beach, if he did in fact sleep on the beach.

And re: girl code, I don’t think anybody did anything wrong here in that respect. It looks like the girls had bonded in some way with this group of lads and it doesn’t take long to get a sense of comfort or safety when it’s people from where you live, and you’re abroad. I can easily imagine how that scenario might have gone down. Also she’s a grown woman. If she said “hey I want to go and hang out with Joshua on the beach for a while” and her friends had no reason to think that was a dangerous thing to do, then I can understand why they’d head off to bed and leave her to it.

 

[armchairagatha]

Josh has a steady gf per this article. Yet here he was hooking up with a stranger during spring break and then not trying to save her when he saw she was in danger of drowning. <modsnip - rumor>. And finally, not reporting her missing or raising the alarm when he didn’t find her after he woke up from his drunken stupor. I think that tells us a lot about his character.

Josh Riibe's distraught family say last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive 'wouldn't hurt a fly' - NewsBreak

The family of 24-year-old Josh Riibe, questioned by police as he was the last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive at a Punta Cana resort, insists it's not

www.newsbreak.com

 

[bluestsocks]

I really think this is a case of very drunk American 20 something’s in a foreign place under weird circumstances mixing with water, which is rarely going to end well. I’m all for a thorough investigation, but it seems crazy to me that London County released this kid’s name as a POI from 1000 miles away from the incident when there’s every likelihood that this was a sadly common case of alcohol not mixing well with water. I think about how tight lipped they are on cases that have had well known POIs for decades and it just seems weird to me that they put him front and center when he’s remained in Punta Cana and voluntarily spoken with authorities and there’s limited evidence; especially so early on in an investigation.

 

[Curious-A]

If JR was passed out/sleeping on the beach on a chair or in the sand until almost 10am surely someone would have noticed or seen him, no? That part of his story could be corroborated by other guests arriving on beach to catch the sunrise or those arriving a little later to enjoy the beach.

I’m usually the first to suspect the husband/ boyfriend/ stepfather/ random dude they just met but I’m feeling like this is a case of (drunk) young adults making a series of stupid decisions. All of them! I think she unfortunately and very sadly drowned. Jmo

 

[Spartygirl]

Yeah but this was bringing bad vibes to the DR tourist scene if people were fearing locals so this gets that Part of the heat off

Exactly. My best guy friend in Michigan is there on vacation right now and I am blowing up his messages asking for updated info. He said it does Not sound like a local but he hasn't heard much else

 

[whitelilac]

Josh has a steady gf per this article. Yet here he was hooking up with a stranger during spring break and then not trying to save her when he saw she was in danger of drowning. <modsnip - rumor>. And finally, not reporting her missing or raising the alarm when he didn’t find her after he woke up from his drunken stupor. I think that tells us a lot about his character.

Josh Riibe's distraught family say last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive 'wouldn't hurt a fly' - NewsBreak

The family of 24-year-old Josh Riibe, questioned by police as he was the last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive at a Punta Cana resort, insists it's not

www.newsbreak.com

We don't know if he was "hooking up" with this girl, nor if he had any clue that she could be in serious trouble in the water, nor the circumstance of him not alerting people.
<modsnip - quoted post was snipped>

 

[Judy Sleuth]

We don't know if he was "hooking up" with this girl, nor if he had any clue that she could be in serious trouble in the water, nor the circumstance of him not alerting people.
<modsnip - quoted post was snipped>

<modsnip - quoted post was snipped> that he is from Iowa and attends school in Minnesota. So knowledge of the ocean wouldn't be a given. I also wonder about her swimming ability and understanding of the ocean and its dangers. Sadly, I fear that it wasn't enough to keep her safe that night.

 

[Carok1964]

This makes me sad to say, but from looking at the videos, she looked unsteady on her feet. I don't know what happened, but I do wish that tourists, especially women going on vacation would have a pact to have a "wingman" to make sure you are okay. Always have a buddy with you. Especially when alcohol is involved. This should not have happened. My heart breaks for this family.