Who is Joshua Ribe? Person of interest identified in Sudiksha Konanki case gives ‘inconsistent statements’ to cops

The hometown sheriff’s section of Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who went missing while on a spring break holiday in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, has named a person of interest in her disappearance. Loudoun County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Thomas Julia told Fox News Digital that 24-year-old Joshua Ribe is a “person of interest” in Konanki’s disappearance.

Julia said that Riibe “has been interviewed at length,” but added it’s “still a missing person case, not a criminal case.” Ribe has not been accused of any crime at this time.

“Sheriff [Michael] Chapman wants to make sure the investigation is comprehensive and includes all possible assets and techniques,” Julia said. “We are working closely with the FBI on all of this, and they are working with the Dominican National Police.”

Ribe, a tourist from Iowa, was reportedly the last person to see Konanki alive. Konanki was last spotted at the Riu Republica Resort beach on March 6 around 4:50 am.

A fellow guest at the Caribbean resort from tiny Rock Rapids, Ribe gave three versions to the police of what led to Konanki’s disappearance. He suggested that he passed out drunk on the beach, and when he woke up, Konanki had vanished.

Ribe first told police that he threw up from the rough surf and went back to shore, but also asked Konanki if she was ok. He said in the second version that he felt sick to his stomach and left the water, and last saw Konanki in knee-deep water in the surf before he passed out. In the final version, he said he saw Konanki walking along the shore before he fell asleep.

Ribe is cooperating with authorities, police said. Dominican President Luis Abinader said Ribe’s accounts have been worrying authorities. “We are concerned,” he said Monday, March 10, during his weekly meeting with the press. “All government agencies are searching … because the latest information we have from one of them, from the last person who was with the young woman, what he says according to the reports is that a wave, while on the beach, crashed into them.”

Meanwhile, Sheriff Mike Chapman of Konanki’s hometown in Loudoun County, Virginia, told NewsNation on Monday, March 10, it is “way too premature” to assume the missing student drowned. “There was some speculation that she may have drowned. I think it’s way too premature to make an assumption like that,” Chapman said.

Of Ribe’s varying statements, Chapman said, “We’re trying to get some consistency with the statements here … if you give inconsistent statements, that means you’re not telling the truth. What we gotta do is get the facts here.”

At the time Konanki disappeared, she was likely on the beach because of a power outage at her Dominican Republic resort. The outage may have disabled some security systems and cameras, as per reports. Dominican Today reported that the power at Riu República Hotel went out in the early hours of March 6. Each area being off-limits at night, it would often be left unsupervised. The power outage disrupted lighting, security systems and surveillance cameras.

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