The seizing of an Iowa college student’s passport while under investigation in the Dominican Republic is a cautionary tale for Americans traveling abroad, who an expert said should be vigilant about protecting their travel documents.
Last month, 22-year-old Joshua Riibe’s passport and cellphone were confiscated as investigators tried to piece together missing spring breaker Sudiksha Konanki’s final moments. Hotel surveillance footage revealed Riibe was among the last people to see Konanki alive before the University of Pittsburgh student disappeared on a Punta Cana beach after a night of drinking with friends.
After Konanki’s disappearance, Riibe, who authorities said was never a suspect, was holed up inside the Riu Republica Hotel under the watch of local authorities.
Riibe, a student at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, remained in the Dominican Republic, unable to travel back to America, for approximately two weeks before he was able to head home.
Nicole Fitzsimons and Kate Gladdin pose for a photo at their brother’s wedding in 2011. (Courtesy of Kate Gladdin)
The family’s fight to bring Keith home, while also grappling with the death of Fitzsimons, led Gladdin down a path of teaching parents how to instill travel safety habits in their families.
“Travel is one of the most eye-opening things we can do,” Gladdin said. “But help them make educated choices. I’m not against travel, but I’m for educated travel.”
Gladdin also points parents toward federal resources aimed at keeping Americans safe while traveling abroad. The State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program provides vacationers with the opportunity to register their trips with the government, in the event something goes wrong.
“[Officials] can quickly update and get in contact with you regarding any safety or security information – whether it’s like an impending cyclone or a terrorist threat – that they need to get you out of a country quickly, if they know you’re there,” Gladdin said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.
Gladdin’s passion for travel safety and educating parents was born from tragedy, but she insists it does not have to be that way for other families.
“Lying on the floor of my sister’s closet, choosing out her funeral dress rather than helping to choose her wedding dress – there are no positives in that,” Gladdin told Fox News Digital. “I think finding purpose in what you’re going through, [by] leaning towards problems that are surrounding you and [finding] what you can do to help solve them. My family created a purpose in Nicole’s death by looking at the problem of travel safety and doing whatever we could to solve it.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
