PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – A key witness in connection with the loss of Suddiksha Konanki's loss of death told Dominican Republic police that he and a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh student were swimming when a big wave struck.
Iowa's Joshua Libe completed nearly four-hour interviews with Dominican Republic Police as a witness in connection with Conanki's loss disappearance on Wednesday, answering more than 50 questions about what happened before disappearing on March 6th.
Riibe is said to have refused to answer eight questions, including his thoughts on the loss of failure and why he did not tell the hotel or authorities about the incident. Police said there were no suspects and said this was a case of a missing person, not a criminal case. Riibe, 24, told police he met Conanki that night as he was staying at the RIU Republica resort for spring break.
Riibe's lawyer, Beatriz Santana, declined to comment on the case or her client's police interview. The Riibe family also said, “At this point, our family is going through a very difficult time right now, and we are experiencing a lot of sadness and pain.
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Suddiksha Conanki, 20, from northern Virginia, was reported missing on Thursday, March 6 after disappearing from a beach in the Dominican Republic. (handouts, left, and Defensive Citizen Dominicana, right.)
“At this point, our family is going through a very difficult time right now and we are experiencing a lot of sadness and pain. We kindly ask for privacy when we navigate this challenging moment together… we appreciate your cooperation and understanding.”
In the early hours of March 6th, they walked from the hotel bar to the beach outside RIU Republica. Conanki arrived in Punta Cana on March 3rd, staying with five other female friends at the University of Pittsburgh. The Riibe arrived on March 1st.
“On the way to the beach, she was giving me a small kiss on the face,” Libe told police, according to the translated transcript.
On the beach, he and Conanki went underwater, with two of her female friends on land. Libe and Conanki were talking when “big waves” hit them, Libe said. At the time, there was a warning of a red flag on the beach, warning people not to go swimming in the rough waves.
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On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, people spent their time at the beach at RIU Republica Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Conanki, 20, was last seen on March 6th on the beach outside the five-star RIU Republica resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez from Fox News Digital)
“[W]The water pulled back, and it dragged us further into the ocean,” he said. “We tried to ask for help as soon as we surfaced, but no one there.”
When asked what happened next, Liebe said she was “tired” and “I realized she was tired of swimming too.”
“I was a lifeguard so I grabbed her and started pulling her out. I held her under my arms and swam to get out of the water.”
“It took a long time to kick her out. That was difficult,” Libe continued. “I was a lifeguard in the pool, not in the ocean. She was trying to keep breathing so she couldn't breathe properly and swallowed a lot of water. At one point I was able to lose consciousness.
Local authorities went missing Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday, March 11, 2025. (Santiago Baez from Fox News Digital)
Libe said that the last time Conanki saw her he was walking “knee depth” in the water.
“I asked if she was okay. I didn't hear her reaction as she started vomiting all the seawater she had swallowed,” Libe said. “After the vomiting, I looked around and saw no one. I thought she had grabbed hers and left. I was really exhausted. I lay in a chair on the beach and was bitten by the sun and mosquitoes, which left me, which left me.
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Local authorities searched for student Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Conanki, 20, was last seen on March 6th on the beach outside the five-star RIU Republica resort in the Dominican Republic. (Santiago Baez from Fox News Digital)
Libe also told police he “hopefully see her the next day,” and thought “I'll bump into her around her.”
“After seeing her walking in the water, I never saw her again.”
When Libe asked if his friend had seen Conanki, he said he was sleeping in his room.
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Sudiksha Konanki on Facebook selfie. The 20-year-old junior at the University of Pittsburgh has been missing since March 6th. She disappeared during a spring break trip to a five-star resort in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha konanki/facebook)
“I thought she went to her room. Her friend texted my friend because she had one of their numbers,” Libe said.
The Iowa man said his friend went to the beach the next day and found his “contents” except for the lock to the room where he “didn't pick up his shoes” and “someone stole it.”
The exterior of the police station in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Kiril Clark)
Riibe told police he was drinking vodka with a shot of 7UP and Tequila, adding that the group of women he was with had bought a “shot of pink tequila” they drank as a group.
He did not answer eight questions about his lawyer's advice, according to the following transcript:
1. How can you confirm that everything you said is true?
2. When you asked about the missing girl, Conanki Sudiksha, what did you tell your friend?
3. What do you think about Sudicsha's loss disappearance?
4. Did Sudiksha know how to swim?
5. Remember when Sudhiksha gestures and screams while she was in the sea?
6. Have you let the authorities or hotel know what happened to you, and the girl on the beach?
7. Have you told your friend what happened between you and you and the girl on the beach?
8. What do you think about this situation?
The beach lounger sat on the sand by the sea at the RIU Republica resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Conanki, 20, was last seen on March 6th on the beach outside the Dominican Republican 5-star RIU Ripolika resort. (Santiago Baez from Fox News Digital)
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, where Conanki lives, said Libe “is not an interested person or suspect for the purposes of a criminal investigation. This is still a missing person and for that purpose he is an interested person for our agency.”
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital on Friday that he spoke with Riibe on Thursday.
“The Loudoan County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) detectives conducted a massive interview with Joshua Libe on the afternoon of Thursday, March 13, 2025. His father and his lawyer accompanied Libe. The search and investigation by the Dominican National Police continues.
The Riibe family said in a statement: “At this point, our family is going through a very difficult time right now, and we are experiencing a lot of sadness and pain.
On Monday, March 10th, 2025, we search for Sudiksha Konanki, a US-born University student at the University of Pittsburgh who disappeared on the beach in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/FrancescoSpotorno)
Four tourists were drowned near Punta Cana in January, according to the Associated Press.
Conanki was last seen in surveillance footage at about 4:15am on March 6th, with seven other seven women, including five women and two men, and seven other women. She was last seen on the beach around 4:50am.
Surveillance footage from the hotel shows a group of six, including five women and one man, returning from the beach from the beach around 5:55am.
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The young man seen in Conanki earlier can be seen in surveillance footage entering the hotel around 9am on March 6th.
Officials are asking anyone with information to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office at 703-777-1021. To stay anonymous, call Loudoun Crime Soluvers at 703-777-1919.
