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

[swanniee11]

Is it just me or does this whole thing scream such an abuse of the law? I'm not sure what the accurate story is regarding him leaving yet as everyone once again has their own story. I'm waiting.

 

[Rita7]

Accidental/murder/suicide

IMO, there is a possibility that SK was kidnapped from the beach: taken against her will by boat, for ex.
Although, I doubt it, but everything is possible so far.

IMHO

 

[osu]

MISSING U OF PITT STUDENT

PERSON OF INTEREST FREE TO LEAVE ISLAND

... Dominican Judge Rules

March 18, 2025 4:38PM PDT

The person of interest in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki is free to leave the Dominican Republic and return home.

A judge ruled Tuesday that Joshua Riibe, the last person to see Konanki alive, has the green light to go back to the United States.

The decision came down after an hours long court hearing which saw Riibe tell the judge, "I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them" ... according to Noticias SIN -- a TV news station in the DR.

Riibe also told the judge ... "I understand I'm here to help, but it's been 10 days and I can't leave."

Riibe has not been charged with a crime and his lawyers argued he is being illegally detained by Punta Cana police.

Now, Riibe is free to leave the island.

Meanwhile, Konanki has not been seen or heard from since her March 6 disappearance.


Person of Interest in Sudiksha Konanki's Disappearance Free to Leave the DR

 

[whitelilac]

Yes, im wondering, too. This article says:

“Officials told ABC News late Tuesday Riibe will no longer be under police surveillance in the Dominican Republic but will not get his passport back.

A judge will issue a ruiling on March 28.”

Man who last saw Sudiksha Konanki reportedly returns to United States

The person officials believe was the last seen with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki will no longer be under police surveillance but, will remain overseas, one day after Konanki's family asked officials to declare their daughter deceased after she went missing in the Dominican...

www.wtae.com

If so, then he still can’t leave. Until the 28th, 10 more days?!

Riibe has another scheduled court hearing March 28, but it’s believed he is not required to appear in person.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/us/sudiksha-konanki-missing-student-punta-cana-tuesday/index.html

 

[Charlot123]

I have to say the way Josh has been treated is pretty disgusting.

Having him walk through all that media was just the icing on the cake for me - there’s no evidence that he did anything wrong that night yet he’s been treated like a criminal for days now.

Get yourself out of there Josh.

From statements it seems Sudiksha parents also lay no blame with him (theyll be privy to much more info than us to).

Now I hope her body is recovered so she can rest in peace

I suspect that they are hoping to find her body.

I also think that if she drowned, “manslaughter” doesn’t apply to Joshua Riibe. No more than to the barmen who overserved them all. Or the resort that didn’t have a guard on the beach.

 

[Chimera]

I have to say the way Josh has been treated is pretty disgusting.

Having him walk through all that media was just the icing on the cake for me - there’s no evidence that he did anything wrong that night yet he’s been treated like a criminal for days now.

Get yourself out of there Josh.

From statements it seems Sudiksha parents also lay no blame with him (theyll be privy to much more info than us to).

Now I hope her body is recovered so she can rest in peace

Purple & Red Emphasis mine.

Purple bolded : Once he's back in IA he's free & clear.
There's no extradition treaty between the U.S. and the D.R. even if there's a new development ... afaik ?

Red bolded: I agree.
Wonder if they found out something they do not want released out of privacy reasons, and if so, I can respect that.
Imo.

It looks like Sudiksha is deceased and her memory is all her family has left.
May she rest in eternal peace.

 

[Mimimom]

Is it just me or does this whole thing scream such an abuse of the law? I'm not sure what the accurate story is regarding him leaving yet as everyone once again has their own story. I'm waiting.

Its crazy, very frightening to me.

 

[Mica]

One says passport was returned the other says it was not returned.
Which is it??

His friend’s passport was returned. I can’t post the link. It’s from an unapproved WS source.

 

[Mica]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902136587829272903

 

[LittleSeaTree]

Sudiksha Konanki’s parents give emotional update about their missing daughter

The devastated parents of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki are now convinced she drowned while on spring break in the Dominican Republic, they revealed to The Post on March…

nypost.com

Heartbreaking...

That really ‘did me in’ Oh, those poor parents…

 

[Donswife48]

Josh Riibe is ‘free to leave’ the DR after being held in Sudiksha Konanki disappearance, judge rules

“I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them,” Riibe told Judge Elvis Delgado.

nypost.com

 

[swanniee11]

Sudiksha Konanki’s parents give emotional update about their missing daughter

The devastated parents of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki are now convinced she drowned while on spring break in the Dominican Republic, they revealed to The Post on March…

nypost.com

Heartbreaking...

Yes it is, brings tears to my eyes. Accident or not these parents are going home without their child.

 

[Marie A]

I’m sure that the US Embassy in the DR will be issuing him a new passport tomorrow morning at 8 am if the authorities lost/ misplaced his passport.
HE IS FREE TO LEAVE THE DR
I hope that he and his dad are smart enough to show up at the Embassy passport office right when it opens if they don’t already have a duplicate passport.
Josh may already be on an airplane on his way out.
What a circus with the media hounding his poor dad who repeatedly said “no comment in respect to Sudiksha’s parents” when asked questions.
Heartening amount of respect between these two families
IMHO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902139347387797530

 

[LittleSeaTree]

I’m sure that the US Embassy in the DR will be issuing him a new passport tomorrow morning at 8 am if the authorities lost/ misplaced his passport.
HE IS FREE TO LEAVE THE DR
Josh may already be on an airplane on his way out.
What a circus with the media hounding his poor dad who repeatedly said “no comment in respect to Sudiksha’s parents” when asked questions.
Heartening amount of respect between these two families
IMHO

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902144885777412546

So true and well said about the mutual respectfulness, a tiny blessing for each. IMO

 

[nerosleuth]

MISSING U OF PITT STUDENT

PERSON OF INTEREST FREE TO LEAVE ISLAND

... Dominican Judge Rules

March 18, 2025 4:38PM PDT

The person of interest in the case of missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki is free to leave the Dominican Republic and return home.

A judge ruled Tuesday that Joshua Riibe, the last person to see Konanki alive, has the green light to go back to the United States.

The decision came down after an hours long court hearing which saw Riibe tell the judge, "I really want to be able to go home, talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them" ... according to Noticias SIN -- a TV news station in the DR.

Riibe also told the judge ... "I understand I'm here to help, but it's been 10 days and I can't leave."

Riibe has not been charged with a crime and his lawyers argued he is being illegally detained by Punta Cana police.

Now, Riibe is free to leave the island.

Meanwhile, Konanki has not been seen or heard from since her March 6 disappearance.


Person of Interest in Sudiksha Konanki's Disappearance Free to Leave the DR

https://twitter.com/x/status/1902136587829272903

So which is it?

One source says he is free to leave DR while another source says he can travel freely with the DR but still can't leave the DR as his passport is still being held.

 

[Judy Sleuth]

Purple & Red Emphasis mine.

Purple bolded : Once he's back in IA he's free & clear.
There's no extradition treaty between the U.S. and the D.R. even if there's a new development ... afaik ?

Red bolded: I agree.
Wonder if they found out something they do not want released out of privacy reasons, and if so, I can respect that.
Imo.

It looks like Sudiksha is deceased and her memory is all her family has left.
May she rest in eternal peace.

I'm not sure about your hopes for the purple item, if he were actually to be charged. It looks like the US does indeed have an extradition treaty with DR: https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/114th-congress/10

 

[scriabina]

It seems unreasonable that a young man that was so obviously inebriated could also be so stealthy and cunning that he evaded all the security cameras and hid her body somewhere on land, away from that beach. And that afterward he would simply plop himself back down in a chair and go to sleep?

It's equally unreasonable to believe someone so drunk could avoid drowning after being pulled out to sea, let alone heroically swim against a strong current while carrying an adult as JR described.

Also, I've seen a lot comments stating that there's no way JR could have carried her off somewhere and successfully hidden her on land. While that is very likely true, I haven't seen many people consider the fact IF JR assaulted SK, he may have dumped her lifeless body out to sea, and then, exhausted and shocked by what happened (I doubt it was premeditated), he blacked out/fell asleep.

I don't think he would've been doing calculations about the tide and the probability that her body would wash up ashore. Drunken, sleep-deprived, and panicked, his first instinct would be to leave the body in the ocean or even try to swim out with her as far as possible. That would have been exhausting, and he very well may have almost drowned trying to do it. So his story about almost drowning and vomiting up seawater could've contained lots of truths.

At the same time it is also very likely the beach was not empty at that time and there would be at least some witnesses to a struggle or perhaps screaming from an attack.

If a struggle/assault happened in the water, it would be easy for a big burly wrestler to hold SK's head underwater until she drowned, and no one would hear a peep.

Combine the later with the fact that drownings like this have occurred on this same beach with completely sober individuals during the day....

Exactly -- if sober people are drowning during daylight, imagine how miraculous it would be for a drunk person to survive while also playing lifeguard in darkness.

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 think the authorities were doing a thorough investigation and were suspicious of JR until SK's parents made it clear they don't want further investigation. Now we may never know what happened. I know I'm in the minority here, but I don't feel confident that JR is as innocent as he claims.

 

[nerosleuth]

I’m sure that the US Embassy in the DR will be issuing him a new passport tomorrow morning at 8 am if the authorities lost/ misplaced his passport.

It could be possible that if the US Embassy were to issue a new passport for Joshua Riibe, it may not be a duplicate passport but a special one way passport that allows him to return to the United States.

I was thinking that even though Joshua Riibe hasn't been charged with a crime, he inadvertently caused an international incident and the US State Department may decide to revoke his current passport in light of the incident that he was involved in.

 

[GXP Sleuther]

For me this is also a drowning until proven otherwise. I have seen wave conditions like this and overestimated my abilities while sober, I have also been in the same condition as this young man. I can't imagine what would happen if I were both drunk and overconfident in the water. Its a miracle I survived my youth to be honest.

It seems unreasonable that a young man that was so obviously inebriated could also be so stealthy and cunning that he evaded all the security cameras and hid her body somewhere on land, away from that beach. And that afterward he would simply plop himself back down in a chair and go to sleep?

At the same time it is also very likely the beach was not empty at that time and there would be at least some witnesses to a struggle or perhaps screaming from an attack.

Combine the later with the fact that drownings like this have occurred on this same beach with completely sober individuals during the day....

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.

to be honest.. this is sort of simple.

- She was last seen alive with him.
- He came back to the hotel and she did not.
- He did not alert any authorities or staff that any incident occurred.
- She was not reported missing until later in the day when her friends to make the report.
- She still is unaccounted for and presumably dead.
- His story makes absolutely zero common sense.
- He's still the last person known to be with her alive.

Yeah it's not looking good for the POI wherever he is.

 

[ellel]

It could be possible that if the US Embassy were to issue a new passport for Joshua Riibe, it may not be a duplicate passport but a special one way passport that allows him to return to the United States.

I was thinking that even though Joshua Riibe hasn't been charged with a crime, he inadvertently caused an international incident and the US State Department may decide to revoke his current passport in light of the incident that he was involved in.

That’s not the way it works. They don’t just “revoke” passports and an international incident is more akin to an act of war not something like this