The American man last seen with missing spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki claimed he tried to save her from drowning after they kissed in the water at a Dominican Republic beach.
Joshua Riibe, 24, was seen on camera with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha in the early hours of March 6 at the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana.
The former high school wrestling champ has not been named a suspect or a person of interest in the case, and is legally free to fly back to the US whenever he wants.
Konanki’s week-long disappearance has baffled officials and prompted cries from her Indian immigrant parents to widen the frantic search for the pre-med student.
The complete transcript from Riibes police interview has now emerged, detailing his final moments with Konanki.
But he refused to answer several critical questions, remaining silent when cops asked if Konanki could swim, if she cried for help and what he told his friend after the tragic night.
Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, claimed he had only just met the young woman when they decided to head out to the beach, according to the transcript of his interview obtained by Noticias SIN.
He revealed they had kissed in the ocean before they almost got swept away by a wave and had to save her from drowning.
‘We were in waist-deep water. We talked and kissed a bit,’ Riibe said. ‘A big wave came and hit us both. And when the water returned, it swept us out to sea. As soon as we were able to surface, we tried to call for help.’
Joshua Riibe (pictured), 24, detailed his final moments with the 20-year-old missing student to investigators from the Ministerio Publico, but refused to answer several critical questions
Sudiksha Konanki (pictured), 20, vanished last week. Her case has baffled officials and prompted cries from her Indian immigrant parents to widen the frantic to search
Riibe was caught on camera with the University of Pittsburgh student in the early hours of March 6 at the Riu Republica Resort
He explained that he previously worked as a lifeguard at a swimming pool and tried to bring them both to safety when he started to feel sick.
‘I was getting tired. I realized she was getting tired of swimming too. I’ve been a lifeguard. I grabbed her and pulled her out. I held her under my arm and swam to get her out of the water,’ Riibe said.
‘It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult. I was a lifeguard in a pool, not at sea. I was trying to get her to breathe the whole time. That didn’t let me breathe the whole time and I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times.’
The 24-year-old said he was able to make it to shore, but claims Sudiksha was still wading in the water when he last saw her.
‘When I finally reached the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me. She wasn’t out of the water, she was knee-deep and walking at an angle out the water,’ he said.
‘The last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her reply because I started vomiting all the water I had swallowed. After vomiting, I looked around. I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left.’
He told investigators that he then passed out on the beach and did not hearing anything about Sudiksha until the next day when her friends texted his friend.
‘I felt really bad and tired. I laid down on a beach chair. I fell asleep because I couldn’t go far,’ Riibe said.
Drones, divers, sniffer dogs and hundreds of officers have been deployed in one of the biggest searches in the history of the Dominican Republic
Riibe claimed they had kissed in the ocean before they almost got swept away and had to save her from drowning. Riibe (pictured the next day) said he passed out and woke up on the beach
‘Then I woke up because of the sun and because mosquitoes were biting me. I went to my friend’s room to get my phone and then went back to my room to sleep.’
While participating in assisting authorities with some questions, Riibe refused to answer at least eight different questions.
When asked if he can verify his statements, what he told his friend, if Sudiksha knew how to swim, if she made any cries for help, if he told authorities what happened on the beach and how he feels about the situation – he had the same response.
‘My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice,’ Riibe told investigators.
The somber-faced Rock Rapids, Iowa native declined to answer questions when DailyMail.com encountered him walking through the lobby with his father Mike, 46, and a police chaperone.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t say anything, not right now,’ Riibe told DailyMail.com when we located him inside the five-star Riu Republica hotel in Punta Cana.
Riibe’s distraught family said the former high school athlete ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Josh and his dad, who flew in this week to support his son, have also been in communication with Sudiksha’s distraught Indian immigrant parents Subbarayudu and Sreedevi, DailyMail.com previously revealed.
Riibe, a former high school wrestling star, refused to answer at least eight different questions claiming his lawyers told him not to talk
The 24-year-old said he was able to make it to shore, but Sudiksha was still wading in the water when he last saw her
Riibe was seen on hotel CCTV with his arm draped around Sudiksha as they headed to the resort’s beach around 4am last Thursday.
The cameras spotted him walking back alone at 9.55am. Sudiksha’s pals reported her missing at around 4pm.
The ‘adults only’ Riu Republica was still teeming with cops, soldiers and officials Thursday as the hunt for pre-med student Sudiksha entered a second week.
Drones, divers, sniffer dogs and hundreds of officers have been deployed in one of the biggest searches in the history of the Dominican Republic, assisted by the FBI and Interpol, which issued a ‘yellow notice’ – a global missing person alert – for the Chantilly, Virginia resident.
Government officials revealed Thursday that the search will carry on at full intensity through at least Sunday, according to Noticias SIN.
Searches are typically stood down after ten days but it could last for as long as six months in a scaled down capacity, the Dominican outlet reported.
