American man, Joshua Riibe, goes to court in the Dominican Republic to find out what will happen to him as search continues for missing Sudiksha Konanki

‘Prisoner in paradise’ Joshua Riibe recently stood before a Dominican Republic court to determine if authorities investigating Sudiksha Konanki’s disappearance can continue confining him to de facto house arrest.

Facing a barrage of chaotic scenes, the 22-year-old American college student found himself surrounded by a frenzy of reporters jostling to catch a glimpse of the individual believed to be the last to have seen Sudiksha before she vanished.

Donning jeans and a black button-down shirt, Riibe appeared bewildered as a group of armed police officers formed a barrier to protect him and his father, Mike, 46, from the encroaching crowd.

Reporters clambered on benches and screamed questions as Magistrate Edwis Rijo Delgado began furiously banging his gavel to little effect.

Minutes later he had seen enough, bellowing out in Spanish to clear the court of cameras and video journalists to restore a semblance of order to the stifling courtroom at the Palacio de Justiçia.

The fireworks continued as it was the turn of the opposing lawyers to shout and point angrily at one another across the packed courtroom.

Prosecutors argued that habeas corpus didn’t apply because Riibe was a witness and not a prisoner.

‘He can go to the beach, he can go to the bar, he can come to court,’ scoffed a government lawyer.

‘It’s false, it’s false. He walked into court without shackles.’

Micenis Beatriz Santana Hernández, Riibe’s lawyer, countered that it was absurd to claim the scruffy, unshaven vacationer was free to go when authorities had his passport.

She said he had been collaborating for the past 11 days and given multiple interviews.

‘He isn’t being treated like a normal witness. Given his high profile, he doesn’t have the ability to leave the resort with guarantees for his safety,’ she insisted.

The lawyer also asked why what appeared to be a mugshot of Riibe had been leaked to the Dominican media.

Joshua and his dad Mike, wearing a stripy blue polo shirt, sat listening in stunned silence, neither able to understand a word of Spanish.

A member of their legal team did his best to translate as the raucous back-and-forth descended into furious arguing.

Yards away a Dominican police officer pressed against the courtroom door as locked-out media members repeatedly tried to barge back in.

Riibe, the last person to see University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha alive at a five-star Punta Cana resort, issued a stunning challenge to prosecutors Monday when his attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus.

The filing served as an audacious ultimatum to Dominican Authorities: charge me with something or let me go home. 

His lawyers are expected to argue today that it was unlawful to snatch the 22-year-old’s passport and ban him from leaving when he is merely a witness.

A judge in Higuey, a bustling metropolis one hour west of Punta Cana, will now determine whether the former high school wrestler is finally free to fly home to Rock Rapids, Iowa.

Riibe has spent the past 12 days holed up in a quiet corner of the sprawling Riu Republica mega resort, a virtual prisoner in paradise, only leaving his room for round after round of interviews.

The senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, was seen on hotel CCTV with his arm draped around Sudiksha as they headed to the resort’s beach around 4am on March 6. 

The cameras spotted him walking back alone at 9:55am. Sudiksha’s gal pals reported her missing at around 4pm.

On Tuesday, her distraught parents said they now believe it’s likely their daughter died by drowning and that Riibe was not involved in her death.  

‘Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides of the authorities have clarified the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning,’ her father Subbarayudu Konanki told The New York Post. 

‘It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned,’ he said. ‘This is incredibly difficult for us to process.’ 

They have since asked that Riibe be allowed to leave the island country and return back to home.  

Earlier, DailyMail.com reported that Sudiksha’s grieving parents have asked Dominican authorities to formally declare that she is dead.

A source with direct knowledge of the investigation told DailyMail.com on Monday that Sudiksha’s family has accepted the ‘deeply painful’ reality that she won’t be found alive, 11 days after she vanished in the early hours of March 6 while on spring break in Punta Cana.

Her disappearance sparked an intense multi-agency search, despite authorities warning early on that she’d likely tragically drowned in the rough surf.

Now, her devastated parents Subbarayudu and SreeDevi have submitted a formal written request to the National Police for a ‘legal declaration of death.’

‘Following an extensive search, Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned. Her clothes were discovered on a beach near where she was last seen,’ the letter states.

‘While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.’

They also wrote that the young person last seen with their daughter, 22-year-old Joshua Riibe, has fully cooperated with police and believe there is no evidence of foul play. 

Over the course of six or seven interviews with the Ministerio Publico, Riibe recalled how the spring break sweethearts waded into the ocean after drinking and kissing before they were hit by a massive wave.

He says he dragged pre-med student Sudiksha back to shallower, knee-deep water but lost sight of her as he vomited and passed out on a sun lounger.

‘After vomiting, I looked around. I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had grabbed her things and left,’ he told prosecutors, according to a transcript leaked to local outlet Noticias SIN. 

An 11-day search by land, water and air – the biggest missing person inquiry in the history of the Dominican Republic – failed to find any trace of her.

Speculation mounted Monday that Yeni Berenice Reynoso, the glamorous and highly regarded Attorney General of the Dominican Republic, could hit Riibe with charges to keep him in the country.

Dominican officials feared a worst-case scenario whereby they let Riibe leave only to locate Sudiksha’s corpse with signs of foul play.

But the prospect of charges receded late Monday when Sudiksha’s anguished parents Subbarayudu and SreeDevi wrote to local authorities asking them to officially declare her dead.

Crucially for Riibe, they appeared to accept that her death was a tragic accident and there was no evidence of ‘foul play.’

‘Following an extensive search, Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned. Her clothes were discovered on a beach near where she was last seen,’ they wrote.

‘While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.’

The US and Dominican Republic do have an extradition treaty but there would be little prospect of Riibe being dragged back to face trial. 

‘If he is let go and he goes to the United States, that’s it,’ said Felix Portes, a high profile Domincan lawyer and managing director of the Portes Nunez & Asociados law firm. 

‘We have sent many people to the United States but there has never been a citizen of the United States extradited to the Dominican Republic to face criminal charges. 

‘The United States is simply not in the habit of sending its citizens abroad to be judged by a foreign justice system.’