The top prosecutor in the Dominican Republic, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, personally questioned Iowa 22-year-old Joshua Riibe at his hotel in Punta Cana for hours on Saturday. Riibe is the lone publicly known eyewitness in the case of the disappearance of Virginia 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki.
Reynoso, the Dominican attorney general, wrapped up a week that included multiple interviews by grilling Riibe in person. The interviews involved detectives from several agencies, such as La Policia Nacional and detectives from Loudoun County, Virginia, Konanki’s hometown.
Despite multiple requests for comment, Reynoso’s office did not provide any response. Riibe and Reynoso’s team were observed going in and out of a room at the Riu Republica hotel for several hours on Saturday evening. His lawyers later confirmed that he was being questioned by the AG herself.
While Riibe has not been named a suspect, nor has any crime been alleged, authorities have described him as a “key element” in the missing person investigation. He has been joined in the country by his parents. Riibe, Konanki and their friends were staying at the resort for spring break.
A drone flies overhead as local authorities search for missing college student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez for Fox News Digital)
Riibe, according to a leaked transcript of one of his police interviews obtained by Fox News, told police that he and Konanki were struck by a strong wave and swept offshore. They battled the current, and he brought her back to land. Then he said he last saw her walking away in knee-deep water toward her belongings, as he threw up and then fell asleep on a beach chair
When he woke up, she was gone, he said.
The same resort saw four European tourists drown in one incident in January. Their remains were all recovered within 48 hours.
Local authorities search for Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Friday. (Fox News Digital)
The search for Konanki has expanded up the coastline, involving hundreds of personnel, helicopters, planes, boats, dive teams, K9s and drones, including new AI-equipped models.
“Above all, we wish to contribute to the search efforts and understand the anguish and uncertainty they are going through, and we share the hope that Sudiksha will be found as soon as possible,” Riibe’s parents said Friday. “Joshua Riibe is deeply dismayed by her disappearance and has fully cooperated in the search and clarification of the facts from the very beginning.”
