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

[cocomonkey]

"It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult," Riibe said, Noticias SIN reported. He further continued that he was trained as a lifeguard, but worked at pools, not at the beach.

"I was trying to get her to breathe the whole time. That didn’t allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times. When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me," he added.

"The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting up all the seawater I had swallowed."

"After vomiting, I looked around, and I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left," Riibe said. "I felt very sick and tired. I lay down on a beach chair and fell asleep because I couldn’t go far," he added.
When questioned about seeing Konanki after that night, Riibe responded, "After I saw her walk away while she was walking in the water, I never saw her again."

Joshua Riibe, detained in Indian-origin Sudiksha Konanki's disappearance, under 'irregular conditions,' says his family - The Times of India

US News: Joshua Riibe, a person of interest in the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, is being held in the Dominican Republ

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Thank you for providing this quote. Sorry to all the people who want this to be something more sinister but I find that story very believable. An absolute tragedy in itself but very believable. In actual fact this young man was being heroic in his rescue of her. They were both blind drunk and both made a naive and foolish decision to enter the surf. He is being held by authorities because that is what you have to do until her body is found or something else is proven. Sometimes these women are the prey of predators but this just sounds like innocent young love. Two holiday makers hooking up under the influence of alcohol, then making some bad choices.

 

[whitelilac]

BBM. Someone else here posted about the oddity of this statement. Was he "pre-splaining" his body relative to hers in case a witness had seen something?

It is very odd. And after saying "...I held her in front of me," his very next statement places much distance between them: "The last time I saw her, I asked if she was OK. I didn't hear her answer because..."

Shared near death experience and then "I never saw her again" (nor did he ask about her or report her missing).

Hinky meter high.

Actually, you'd think that after the potentially life threatening and frightening ordeal they went through, you'd think they'd sit on the beach together, in a state of relief, and talk about it. Whether they threw up or not. Wouldn't that be a normal instinct to do so? Especially after he "saved" her.
Instead she "walked away".
Then it's possible too that she wanted to gather her clothes and just get out of there, but personally that would not be my reaction.

 

[Dee10]

I have been to Punta Cana on that stretch of beach for a week on a vacation and I saw no medium waves at all. It beautiful and lots of trees for shade and the water is both nice, very clear, and you can walk out a long way before it gets deep. I like waves and there wasn't any when I was there. However, because of the clear water, drones are a great option.

<modsnip - no link>

Two things I find strange, him saying he was holding her in front of him and that he felt the need to get his phone from the friend's room. It seems like too much and an odd detail to mention perhaps given the circumstance for her being missing. Why was his phone in his friend's room? Maybe I missed something as usually you pay for two people for each room? JMO

 

[Bigditch]

Thank you! I missed the pic.
I am reading that she went missing during high tide. I wonder if these loungers are moved back before the tide comes in. If, in fact, it was high tide, would he have had to walk quite a distance to get back to a lounger?

Rbm.
Thanks for the link verifying that JR declined to answer.
I went looking and hadn't found anything yet.

Not a sign of foul play, certainly, but at this time it would be best (imo) if JR fully told LE everything .
Even if it was embarrassing or whatever.
We the public don't need to know.
But LE do, so they can clear JR.
Afaik, the official version by the authorities there is drowning, so nothing that was said by JR and/or SK can't be revealed to LE.
Imo.

Braun, along with an expert on oceans, told DailyMail.com her body would almost certainly have washed up on the shore by now if she drowned.

An accidental drowning seems unlikely. The water wasn't rough that night, no high tide, and no rip currents, so she likely wasn't simply swept away,' Braun said.

'Keeping focus on her likely being alive increases the chances of finding her.'

Stephen Leatherman, a professor of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, also thought eight days was too long for her body to be at sea.

'If she drowned, her body should have already surfaced in the warm Caribbean waters,' he said.

'I have served as an expert witness for 30 years, so I have been involved in many cases where someone drowned in a rip current, but the body was always recovered.

'I think that there must be another explanation for her disappearance.'

More in the article

Why experts believe missing Spring Break student didn't drown

Sudiksha Konanki, 20, has not been seen since the early hours of March 6 at the Riu Republica Resort on Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic - and experts fear foul play is why she hasn't been found

www.dailymail.co.uk

footage showed the Konanki vomiting at 4.05am before walking back to the bar. Riibe remained in the background vomiting while two men stood near him.

I don't see her throwing up, nor him.

 

[Diddian]

Actually, you'd think that after the potentially life threatening and frightening ordeal they went through, you'd think they'd sit on the beach together, in a state of relief, and talk about it. Whether they threw up or not. Wouldn't that be a normal instinct to do so? Especially after he "saved" her.
Instead she "walked away".
Then it's possible too that she wanted to gather her clothes and just get out of there, but personally that would not be my reaction.

I don't know either one of them, so feel at a loss to guess what they would do. However, the girls who were vacationing with her likely know her and the guy who was vacationing with him likely knows him. So, I imagine it was very important for police to question them.

What would each of those individuals typically do? Were there any boundaries being crossed before these two were alone with each other that night that might have concerned her friends and might have served as an early warning to be cautious not to be alone with him if she were not so intoxicated?

 

[Knox]

I believe in innocent until proven guilty but I agree the story does seem off (if it’s been translated properly). If you had nearly drowned and was struggling to breathe because of a rip tide, would you go back into the water after being saved? I would be keeping well clear of it. MOO.

It has occured to me, that detail was provided to cover the bases when her body really is recovered.

Guilt/innocence is a side issue for me at this point, I'm not seated on a jury deciding his fate. Just discussing what according to the MSM, Riibe is said to have told LE and whether it makes sense.

He may well be completely innocent - or not ... time will tell.

 

[Knox]

I don't think he was saying that she was going back to the water. I think he meant that they were swept out to sea, both struggling for their life, when they got back to the "beach", perhaps where their feet could touch the sand, he was further in than her. He had performed his lifesaving move bringing her in, had lungs full of seawater and was vomiting. He could see her in knee height water walking in the direction of where their clothes were. He continued vomiting and recovering from the ordeal and effects of alcohol. When he looked for her she was gone and he assumed back to her hotel. He collapsed in exhaustion on the beach where he woke up the next morning.

This interpretation, if true. Makes far more sense, thanks for calling it out differently.

 

[Charlot123]

Does everyone believe his story about him rescuing her from a big wave, and last seeing her walking knee deep in the water?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/14/us/missing-college-student-punta-cana-update/index.html

Not at all. Drunk or sober, the story should have been different.

 

[SMK777]

Not at all. Drunk or sober, the story should have been different.

That's definitely the sense I get.

 

[Firstsnow4]

I don't think he was saying that she was going back to the water. I think he meant that they were swept out to sea, both struggling for their life, when they got back to the "beach", perhaps where their feet could touch the sand, he was further in than her. He had performed his lifesaving move bringing her in, had lungs full of seawater and was vomiting. He could see her in knee height water walking in the direction of where their clothes were. He continued vomiting and recovering from the ordeal and effects of alcohol. When he looked for her she was gone and he assumed back to her hotel. He collapsed in exhaustion on the beach where he woke up the next morning.

I think that’s the problem with the story so far - different news outlets are reporting it differently hence where the confusion arises. I believe that this was a tragic accident and she unfortunately drowned. JMO.

 

[Bigditch]

If LE do suspect foul play they need to check every square inch of that hotel.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Agustín Morillo Rodríguez, the general commander of the Dominican Republic Navy, said in a statement to CNN, "This is one of the largest operations we have carried out for the rescue of a person."

Sudiksha Konanki's dress and flip-flops found as experts say drowning 'unlikely'

Pictures of a sarong and flip-flops believed to belong to missing Sudiksha Konanki have been released by the authorities as some experts say they don't believe the Pitt student drowned

www.themirror.com

 

[CityKid]

I also wonder whether that parroted phrase that the Daily Mail article reported - 'My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice' - is something that his lawyers taught him to say in Spanish. That phrase sounds so stilted to me, that I wonder if there's a translation effect going on there. It seems the info on this case comes from the local police to the DR news agency, and then is translated to English by...whom? Google? Someone on the Daily Mail staff? Someone on the DR news staff? So many options in this game of "telephone" for info not to be correct by the time we Web Sleuths are reading it.

And the question phrasing of "young Sudiksha" was strange to me. This is a serious case. SK is not a child; she's a missing adult.

 

[Ghostwheel]

I don't see her throwing up, nor him.

I'm curious, why not? Myself, having been in both a rip current at one time, and just rough water and trying to make it to shore another time (with lots of non issue outings between), I can guarantee it's easy to take on water, not just drinking it in but getting in your lungs. You start to cough to clear your lungs, next thing you know you are violently coughing, then puking. And that goes on with you gasping for breath in between coughing and throwing up. 10 minutes easy to recover enough to be mildly coherent. And that is completely sober.

I'm not saying that is or is not what happened, just saying it 100% can and does happen, so I wonder why you don't see it. Do you just not believe the story?

 

[Charlot123]

If LE do suspect foul play they need to check every square inch of that hotel.

Is the beach sandy?

 

[bestill]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1900985678067900663

I'm so tossed here!!

 

[slowpoke]

I have been to Punta Cana on that stretch of beach for a week on a vacation and I saw no medium waves at all. It beautiful and lots of trees for shade and the water is both nice, very clear, and you can walk out a long way before it gets deep. I like waves and there wasn't any when I was there. However, because of the clear water, drones are a great option.

^ snipped

But we know it has been reported there was a Red Flag Warning posted there at the beach when this happened. (LINK)

Also, in January of this year, there was reports of tourists drowning there. (LINK)

So, it can be rough water, and drownings there have happened in the past.

Moo

 

[Ghostwheel]

 RSBM
Two things I find strange, him saying he was holding her in front of him and that he felt the need to get his phone from the friend's room. It seems like too much and an odd detail to mention perhaps given the circumstance for her being missing. Why was his phone in his friend's room? Maybe I missed something as usually you pay for two people for each room? JMO

Getting the phone makes sense to me. The average person keeps their phone away from seawater. It's just smart. But it also would explain him not trying to call anyone or Sudiksha. He didn't have his phone with him.

As to how he had her, when rescuing someone who is drowning, always approach from the back. NEVER from the front. Drowning people have the instinct to climb to whatever they can. If you come from the front, they will try to drown you to get leverage. Not rational, simply an instinct. He was stating she was panicking and that is why he had her that way. Lifeguard training.

 

[Kermitskorner]

Actually, you'd think that after the potentially life threatening and frightening ordeal they went through, you'd think they'd sit on the beach together, in a state of relief, and talk about it. Whether they threw up or not. Wouldn't that be a normal instinct to do so? Especially after he "saved" her.
Instead she "walked away".
Then it's possible too that she wanted to gather her clothes and just get out of there, but personally that would not be my reaction.

VERY well put. Many CNS's would go into fight or flight mode after this sort of situation, maybe not hers but gives even more reason to question events

 

[Ghostwheel]

Btw, when rescuing a person "in front of me" does not necessarily mean in a standing way. When you rescue someone you can be on your back or side, and the person you are rescuing is "in front of you" meaning your front side is to their backside or side side.

Eta: I have no opinion on this just yet. I see people questioning what absolutely makes sense to me, so I respond with what knowledge and experience I have.