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

[armchairagatha]

This allows everyone to move on from a very unfortunate tragedy. If at all the body is recovered, they can try and confirm if it was accidental drowning or foul play. So that door is not fully closed. But until then, this allows everyone to move on with their lives, especially Josh.

 

[minazoe]

so sad. I understand they are willing to accept that she drowned. I'm not sure I could accept that so soon without her body for confirmation. that said there are zero reports of non-guests or strange people lurking in the shadows of the property or frequenting that beach. so if there is no suspicious activity to tie anything to it's hard to make a case for a kidnapping. I still will feel much better if they find her. They need to keep searching. mOO

 

[minazoe]

also I hope they are looking over all the people who stayed at the resort during the time..did anyone check out abruptly? any big suitcases going out of that lobby? it's just that with all the problems , how can we really know if she made it back to the hotel? for sure she never found her dress and flip flop...
would she have gone back there in her swim suit? wow I just don't know and I don't trust the cameras with outages etc..unless they have continuous footage. sigh...I wouldn't be able to let go yet. mOO

 

[Sundog]

You couldn’t pay me to go to the Dominican Republic after this.
Places where authorities seize your passport and don’t return it in a timely manner (as in that same day) without just cause are both dangerous and corrupt.
Putting this young man under house arrest but not arrested without an iota of proof in his culpability for Sudiksha’s disappearance is abhorrent.
There should be a national travel ban against this place.
And hard earned tax dollars paid for Virginia authorities to FLY DOWN HERE and interview Josh in person. You can’t have a zoom meeting or talk to him stateside?
SMH.
This has become a ridiculous story.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
I’m sorry but a fully drunk person doesn’t make a good key witness for detailed memories - period.
His memories could be inaccurate or inadvertently fabricated (as others have pointed out) and are snippets of what has actually transpired at best.
I personally think Josh has been truthful to the best of his ability.
They better free Josh during the hearing tomorrow morning and let him fly home.
He must be fully traumatized by now and his parents (who don’t appear to be wealthy or particularly smart about protecting their son from being harassed) must be facing incredible costs for this circus that has ensued.
They are certainly fully traumatized now as well.
I can’t figure out why it’s taken Josh’s attorney so long to file for his release.
Now Josh will have missed a minimum of 1.5 weeks of college classes.
Hopefully he has access to a laptop in his hotel room and can do some work online.
It’s horrible that Sudiksha disappeared but this treatment of the “key witness” stinks.
How this Dominican government can continue to hold Josh is beyond my comprehension.
All imho

I wonder why the U.S. State department is helping with his release. If he's not charged, they need to let him go. I frankly don't care about him missing classes at his university, he made some bad choices and is now facing the consequences. But he hasn't been charged with anything, so they need to let him go.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7483182131087297835

 

[Dee10]

Sheriff's Office Says Man Seen with Sudiksha Konanki Isn't a Suspect or Person of Interest, Marking Stunning Reversal

Joshua Riibe is no longer considered a person of interest by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office

ca.news.yahoo.com

"Days after Konanki's disappearance, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office named Joshua Riibe, an Iowa native vacationing in the Dominican Republic, as a person of interest, believing he could have been the last person to see her alive.

"It's an ongoing investigation, but in that regard, he's not a person of interest anymore in that he's been interviewed as part of the case," Chad Quinn, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, tells PEOPLE. "It's still not a criminal investigation in any way from our perspective. He is not considered a suspect by us."

I have seen anything regarding the Dominican's opinion yet, nor what the court decided.

 

[arielilane]

@CStewartNews


Josh Riibe mobbed by media as he enters Dominican Court. The hearing is over if he is being wrongfully detained at the hotel as authorities search for Sudiksha Konanki.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902066917176963338

 

[arielilane]

@alcaprari23


The letter the parents of Sudiksha Konanki have filed with Dominican Republic authorities asking for officials to declare their daughter legally dead. They say Joshua Riibe is cooperating with authorities, although he is not officially named. There is no evidence of foul play.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902007777339260982

 

[Charlot123]

About alcohol blackouts - they exist in a full "en block" form and also in "fragmentary" from, i.e., "brownouts".

Blackout (drug-related amnesia) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I suspect that JR had a "brownout" with confabulations that are strangely typical for alcohol use.

IMO, there could be a religious aspect (some religions have a specific time in which they complete rituals after death, including ceremonies and/or burial/cremation). There could also be a social reason. They've already seen their daughter behaving socially in ways they probably did not expect to see her, there may be a parental shame element, and they might not want to have broadcast anything else she may have done that night.

These poor parents. Their daughter and they are criticized by the Indian community in India.

The other side: Ginnette Bournigal, a senator of Puerto Plata and the president of the  Senate Tourism Commission, blamed it all on "drinking and hookup culture". Which is not only horribly insensitive towards Sudiksha and her parents. It is irrational - sorry, but most travel to the DR for "all inclusives". You don't blame the tourists for being attracted to the touristy attractions.

Not only this, the parents are criticized by young Asians here in the US by being "strict Asian parents." Which we don't know either, i think they were loving parents who tried to do the best.

So I guess it falls on us all to say that we understand, and feel compassion and sympathy for Sudiksha's parents. They likely did the best they could. Sudiksha grew up in the US. She was planning to be a doctor. So, a smart girl. A beautiful girl, too.

I think that her parents are following the logic (and tbh, the chance of SK being alive is slim). And, they are following the rites that are important.

In my view, a 20-year-old girl who went for a vacation with a group of other girls. Given that there was a blackout in a hotel, is it surprising that they were overserved? Probably everyone went to a bar. Is it easy to overdrink at 20? For sure. We all have been there. The rest is understandable. Disinhibited by alcohol, flattered by attention of another student, going to the seashore with a group. Nothing wrong IMHO.

We don't quite know what happened there, but Sudiksha didn't hurt anyone, it is obvious. Just a tragic situation for a young woman. I suspect she trusted that huge guy JR who probably overestimated his "lifeguard" qualities. She made a mistake. Whether JR was a coward and doesn't want to acknowledge it, or he had an "alcoholic brownout" and doesn't remember, one of the two, I think.

Best of wishes to her parents.

To the Dominican Republic - to undo the insensitive words of your Senator Bournigal, try your best to find Sudiksha.

 

[Charlot123]

I wonder why the U.S. State department is helping with his release. If he's not charged, they need to let him go. I frankly don't care about him missing classes at his university, he made some bad choices and is now facing the consequences. But he hasn't been charged with anything, so they need to let him go.

Honestly? Because they went out to the sea, he came back alone and his stories probably don't match. I think they'll let him go because what do you do with someone who drank himself into a blackout? I also hope that in the future, girls avoid him because whatever we think, he is not reliable.

 

[nerosleuth]

I think this young man is in serious trouble, the authorities are going to be looking to blame something other than the rough seas and hedonistic atmosphere they created so families keep coming and spending their money.

I don’t know what the outcome of today's hearing will be.

Even if it is an accidental drowning, there is the possibility that he could end up being charged with negligent homicide due to his actions after getting out of the water.

 

[minazoe]

did he even have Suki's phone number or room number? did he even remember her last name? I don't know if he had a super bad sunburn got totally drunk and nearly died..I'm thinking he's just recovering..thinking he will sleep some more and find her at the club later in the day or evening..

I don't know but still I want to know the currents specifically for the timeframe. and if something did come in, which way would it have pushed her in the water? was she wearing jewelry? would the tiger sharks totally zero in on her and drag her somewhere or devour her? how long would it take them to do this? are there dive teams accessing the reef?

they need to focus on retrieving her...and following up on leads because supposedly there have been some leads called in. could be nothing , could be something.

on this supposedly quiet night on the water ( even though the day was bad)...supposedly quiet...so how was it later on? in the early morning before they started to search? could later riptides and currents have pulled her further out?

I'm sad about this story, mOO

 

[Bigditch]

I'm curious about the swim trunks being on inside-out. Shirt & shoes?

 

[arielilane]

@alcaprari23


The last person to see Sudiksha Konanki alive appeared in a Dominican Republic courtroom today with an ultimatum for the judge: Either charge me with a crime or let me go.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902084932354134329

 

[arielilane]

Streamed two hours ago
18+ minutes

Sudiksha Konanki's Disappearance Court Hearing​

 

[Trebor5591]

Joshua Riibe speaks out after being named as person of interest

Joshua Riibe, 22, was the last person seen with the 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh junior before she went missing from the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana in the early hours of March 6.

www.dailymail.co.uk

'I kept trying to get her to breathe, but that didn't allow me to breathe all the time, and I swallowed a lot of water,' he said, adding he used to be a lifeguard.

Investigators in the Dominican Republic said they believe she drowned, and while they have questioned Riibe, they have not said he is suspected of any crime.

Seems to me he saved her life, and she didn't even stick around to see if he was going to be OK. Goes both ways, he would have died on the beach and she went back to her room, would that be OK.? JMO MOO

dbm

 

[Chimera]

Graphic post :


Even if Sudiksha is found, and am hoping she will be, after being the water for that length of time it'll be nearly impossible to tell if she was murdered, barring a stab wounds to her bones or a gunshot (not at all likely).
Depending on decomp., if she was strangled the evidence will be long gone, imo.
If something bad happened to her, we may never know.

I just wanted justice for Sudiksha if there was any foul play.
Doesn't look like the authorities think that occurred, though.
Omo.

 

[Trebor5591]

I'm curious about the swim trunks being on inside-out. Shirt & shoes?

link please?

 

[Chimera]

did he even have Suki's phone number or room number? did he even remember her last name? I don't know if he had a super bad sunburn got totally drunk and nearly died..I'm thinking he's just recovering..thinking he will sleep some more and find her at the club later in the day or evening..

I don't know but still I want to know the currents specifically for the timeframe. and if something did come in, which way would it have pushed her in the water? was she wearing jewelry? would the tiger sharks totally zero in on her and drag her somewhere or devour her? how long would it take them to do this? are there dive teams accessing the reef?

they need to focus on retrieving her...and following up on leads because supposedly there have been some leads called in. could be nothing , could be something.

on this supposedly quiet night on the water ( even though the day was bad)...supposedly quiet...so how was it later on? in the early morning before they started to search? could later riptides and currents have pulled her further out?

I'm sad about this story, mOO

Rbm.
Good questions.
I mentioned about that and was told there were red flags out on the beach that night, and the person who said it was calm was not there ?
Omo.

 

[Trebor5591]

@alcaprari23


The letter the parents of Sudiksha Konanki have filed with Dominican Republic authorities asking for officials to declare their daughter legally dead. They say Joshua Riibe is cooperating with authorities, although he is not officially named. There is no evidence of foul play.

View attachment 571925View attachment 571926

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902007777339260982

What an odd letter for Sudiksha Konanki's parents to have written. I am frankly aghast.