Dominican lawyer puts missing American drowning theory back in play

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – The a part of the seashore the place pupil Sudiksha Konanki from the College of Pittsburgh disappeared on spring break final week, is identical place the place 4 European vacationers drowned in January.

It is named harmful with tough browsing and powerful and unpredictable currents, mentioned Luis Vilchez, a Dominican lawyer who shouldn’t be concerned within the case.

“Each seashore within the Macao space, the place it’s positioned, and in Uvero Alto its seashores in Punta Cana the place you must watch out, as a result of when these waves are sturdy, they drag you to the ocean,” he advised Fox Information Digital.

Vital witness within the disappearance of the American pupil tells the police how they met, what occurred on the seashore

Sudiksha Konanki, 20, from North Virginia, was lacking for the primary time on March 6 after he disappeared from a seashore within the Dominican Republic. (Handout, left; Defensa Civil Dominicana, proper)

In January, a number of folks and others drowned had been saved from the seashore behind the identical resort the place Konanki was final seen, the Riu Republica in Punta Cana. The primary three to be restored had been recognized as European vacationers, two from Poland and one other from Portugal.

The stays of a 3rd Polish Nationwide had been discovered ashore the subsequent day, in keeping with Bavaro Digital, an area newspaper.

Vilchez famous that pink warning flags flew that flew the morning of Konanki’s disappearance, an indication that browsing situations had been notably tough at the moment. However she and her mates could have been unsuspecting victims after an evening out on March 5 within the early morning hours the subsequent day.

Lacking American in Dominican Republic: no suspects as a seek for Sudiksha Konanki reaches every week

The American pupil Sudiksha Konanki was lacking throughout trip with mates in Punta Cana March 6, 2025. (Graphics from Fox Information)

Round 4.15 am, Konanki was a part of a bunch of six girls and two males who had been seen on surveillance video that the seashore approached. Six of them got here again round 6 am and left Konanki alone on the seashore with a 22-year-old Iowa named Joshua Riibe.

Riibe, a colleague’s lead from St. Cloud State College in Minnesota, collaborates with the authorities and isn’t referred to as a suspect, Konanki got here again round 10 am the one one who shouldn’t be accountable.

“Drunk folks in the course of the evening won’t take that under consideration,” mentioned Vilchez. “Though the waves on that particular seashore may be harmful on regular events, they’re much more when the pink flag has completed.”

American School Scholar disappears in Dominican Republic: Timeline

Konanki and her mates had been seen within the lodge bar with drinks earlier than they went to the seashore behind the resort, in keeping with the authorities.

Navy employees are on the lookout for Sudiksha Konanki, a pupil from the College of Pittsburgh who disappeared on a seashore in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on 10 March. (AP/Francesco Spotorno)

“Within the video the 2 are seen sideways; they might not stroll straight,” he advised Fox Information Digital, referring to the final recognized safety video of Konanki who confirmed her to the seashore with a bunch of mates. “If that they had come into the water at the moment, a wave might simply have carried out all the things he says.”

Riibe would have advised the authorities that the 2 had been swept away by a powerful wave and had worn the shoreline, in keeping with a transcript of considered one of his interviews with the police. After he had hassle getting again to the nation, he mentioned he had inserted salt water from swallowing.

Lodge -Horror tales seem after the American pupil is lacking as a result of Resort doesn’t make a connection

Researchers have expanded the search space if the American pupil Sudiksha Konanki is lacking after she had disappeared from a seashore in Punta Cana March 6, 2025. (Graphics from Fox Information)

“I requested if she was okay. I did not hear her reply as a result of I began with all of the seawater I had swallowed,” mentioned Riibe. “After surrendering, I regarded round and did not see anybody. I assumed she had caught and left her issues. I felt actually dangerous and exhausted. I lay down on a seashore chair, fell asleep as a result of I couldn’t go far and awoke later due to the solar and mosquito bites.

Then he fell asleep on a seashore chair and was returned to the lodge round 10 am

Specialists beforehand advised Fox Information Digital that the seashore is thought for its sturdy currents and that they are often unpredictable and might change with out warning.

Authorities are on the lookout for the lacking of the American pupil Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Thursday 13 March 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)

“Punta Cana is positioned on the Mona passage, which connects the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” Andrew Wulfeck, a Fox Weather Meteorologist and producer of digital content material, defined. He investigated coasters from the time of the disappearance of Konanki.

“As ordinary, the place two waterways meet, the swell may be irregular and tough to foretell, not like the extra predictable patterns which might be usually seen on seashores alongside the American east coast.”

Though some consultants have had issues together with his story, Vilchez mentioned he believes that there would have been no time to commit cheat and conceal the proof.

“At 6 o’clock folks come to Sunbathe,” he advised Fox Information Digital. “If he had killed her, he wouldn’t have had time to get her someplace with out being seen.”

Unpredictable ocean currents, seashore entrance kind a big search problem

The resort and his adjoining rivals all have cameras, he mentioned, additionally on the seashores on each side of the RIU.

“A drunken man wouldn’t have had the psychological skill to drown her and throw her into the stream – and to be fortunate that that physique has not been discovered within the meantime,” he mentioned.

Individuals on the seashore of the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Thursday 13 March 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)

Riibe works along with the authorities and isn’t referred to as a suspect. However in an announcement on Friday, his dad and mom mentioned they had been involved about “irregular circumstances” that he was confronted with throughout the first six days of the investigation.

“Regardless of his full willingness to cooperate, Josh was held beneath irregular circumstances and topic to intensive interrogations with out the presence of official translators or authorized adviser till Wednesday 12 March,” mentioned his dad and mom, Albert and Tina Riibe, via their attorneys.

“He has remained in his lodge room beneath police management and has repeatedly been dropped at the police station since 6 March, the place he has been interviewed for lengthy hours. This example has critically delivered this case, in order that we’ve got retained a authorized adviser to provoke authorized actions which have assured his security and safety of his rights throughout this course of throughout this course of.”

Lodge -Horror tales seem after the American pupil is lacking as a result of Resort doesn’t make a connection

Authorities are on the lookout for the lacking of the American pupil Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Thursday 13 March 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)

The household mentioned they had been keen to proceed working with search efforts and needed to share their “deep sorrow and solidarity” with the Konanki household.

“Above all, we need to contribute to the search efforts and the concern and uncertainty they’re going via, and we share the hope that Sudiksha shall be discovered as quickly as potential,” they mentioned. “Joshua Riibe is deeply relieved Her disappearance And has labored utterly collectively within the search and clarifying the info from the beginning. “

The residence of Konanki stays unknown, and officers say they work a case of a lacking individuals and No prison investigation, However they’ve left all potentialities open. Then again, consultants additionally say that our bodies are likely to drive again to the coast inside two or three days. She disappeared on March 6.

Individuals take pleasure in time on the seashore within the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Thursday 13 March 2025. (Santiago Baez for Fox Information Digital)

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The Dominican police lead the investigation, with the assistance of a number of American businesses, together with the FBI and Homeland Safety. Researchers from the Sheriff’s Workplace of Loudoun County in Konanki’s beginning metropolis despatched two detectives to Punta Cana with the permission of the Dominican authorities. They interviewed Riibe on Thursday, had some unbiased work on the bottom and went again to the US on Friday.

“Mr. Riibe is by no means a suspect or kind,” the spokesperson for a sheriff advised Fox Information Digital.