The man known as missing University of Pittsburgh student tells prosecutors how he rescued her from rough water

The man, who was considered a student of the University of Pittsburgh among a student at the University of Pittsburgh, then disappeared from a beach in the Dominican Republic, providing more details to local prosecutors, the Dominican news agency Noticias Noticias Sin reported.

Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared from the beach at Riu República Hotel in the early hours of March 6, triggering a crazy search by authorities from the Dominican Republic, the United States and India, Konanki was born.

According to Noticias Sin, the man he and her on the beach, Joshua Steven Riibe, told prosecutors that he and Konanki were hit by a strong wave and swept out of the sea as the water returned. Riibe is a 22-year-old American who is not considered a suspect in this case and has not been charged with wrongdoing.

Helen Peralta, a Riibe lawyer, told CNN Friday that they have no statement at the moment.

In a fourth interview with prosecutors on Wednesday, Ribe described a painful attempt to save Konanki wandering through the waves, tired of swimming.

“It took me a long time to take her away. It was difficult. He said he had trained as a lifeguard but worked in the pool, not on the beach.

“I tried to keep her breathing. It didn’t keep me breathing, I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness many times. When I finally got to the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me.”

He said he saw Konanki the last time she was walking in deep water on her knees.

“The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was okay. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the sea water I was swallowing.”

“After vomiting, I looked around and saw no one. I thought she grabbed her stuff and left,” Ribe said.

“I felt very disgusting and tired. I lay on the beach chair and fell asleep because I didn’t walk far.”

He said the sun and biting mosquito woke up, and he went to his friend’s room to get his cell phone and went to his room to sleep.

“I was sleeping in the room and my friend asked me if I had seen her; I told him no, and I thought she went to her room,” Ribe said. His friend told him that Kang Ki never returned to her room, which Ribe said “surprised” him.

When asked about seeing Konanki on the beach that night, Riibe said: “I never see her again when I saw her walking away while walking in the water.”

Riibe declined to answer some of the prosecutor’s questions, according to the transcript obtained by Noticias Sin. CNN saw a copy of the transcript.

Riibe is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, majoring in land surveying and mapping science. He comes from Iowa Rock Rapids.

Since the incident, Ribe, who was on vacation in the Dominican Republic with classmates, said he was only interviewed in his room.

His aunt Theresa Riibe asked for privacy in a statement to CNN on Friday.

“Our family is going through very difficult times now and we are going through a lot of sadness and pain,” the statement said. “We ask for privacy when we spend this challenging moment together.”

The moment when Konanki disappears

Ribe said he first met Connaway at the hotel when he introduced Connaway’s group to his friends.

Konanki is at the resort with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh, according to the Sheriff’s Office in Loudon County, Virginia where her family lives.

Riibe said in his interview that the two friends groups went to the bar together until “someone suggested we go to the beach.” Two of the women stayed behind.

The Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement that Konanki was last seen on surveillance cameras, and seven other people entered the Riurepública hotel in Punta Cana after 4:15 a.m. on March 6.

The Dominican Republic National Police told CNN sources that before heading to the beach, surveillance video showed Americans (Konanki, five other women and two men) were drinking in the hotel lobby around 3 a.m.

Two sources close to the investigation told CNN that Konanki is believed to have been captured by five women and a man leaving the beach while a man caught five women while Konanki is with another young man.

Two sources close to the investigation said surveillance footage showed the man leaving the beach area at 8:55 a.m. without any sign of Connachi.

When Konanki didn’t return to her room, her companions initially searched for her before notifying the authorities, according to law enforcement sources. The team then reported her disappearance to hotel staff, the RIU hotel chain said in a statement.

Her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, said. “My daughter is a very good girl,” he said. “She is ambitious. She wants to pursue a career in medicine.”

Konanki’s father hopes local authorities “have to investigate other possibilities, including whether this is kidnapping or human trafficking,” he told CNN on Sunday in Punta Cana. “We don’t think she can survive in the water for more than three days, and I think something else might happen to her.”

The Sheriff’s Office in Loudon County, Virginia, also urged caution about “public speculation” about Konanki’s disappearance, according to a press release Monday.

“There are a lot of speculation about what might happen to Concarney and what might be involved in it,” the sheriff’s office said. “We recommend that anyone draw any unconfirmed conclusions and work to ensure a thorough investigation before any conclusions are drawn.”

CNN’s Lex Harvey, Carol Alvarado and Alaa Elassar contributed to the report.

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