Joshua Riibe, the Minnesota college student who was with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, stated in court that he is “ready to go home and go back to my life.”
The 22-year-old Iowa native, who has not been charged with a crime, claimed Konanki’s family hugged and thanked him.
“Her mother hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for saving my daughter the first time,'” Riibe told the court Tuesday. “It was really tough.”
Riibe’s court appearance was for a habeas corpus hearing, which his lawyers filed because they feel the 22-year-old is being imprisoned unjustly.
Prosecutors asserted in court that Riibe is a witness who is not jailed.
Authorities confiscated Riibe’s passport, and he claimed in court that officers followed him to meals and observed him eat. Riibe’s counsel requested that his passport be returned and that he be allowed to leave the hotel without being monitored.
“I can’t go anywhere. And I truly want to be able to go home and talk to my family, embrace them, and tell them how much I miss them,” Riibe said. “I understand I’m here to help, but it’s been 10 days and I can’t leave.”
Riibe’s father went to the Dominican Republic to assist him.
“I’m just doing what I can, and there’s nothing else I can do,” Riibe stated during his court appearance.
At the end of Riibe’s appearance, the judge granted habeas corpus, which means he will no longer be under police monitoring. However, Dominican Republic officials have not yet returned his passport.
Riibe’s attorney issued a statement that reads: “Guzmán Ariza expresses its deep gratitude to the Dominican judiciary and all institutions involved in the Joshua Steven Riibe case for recognising and upholding the rule of law and ensuring respect for his fundamental rights as a foreign citizen in the Dominican Republic.”
On March 28, the judge is likely to determine whether he will face charges or be allowed to leave the country.
According to ABC News, authorities suspect Konanki, 20, died by drowning near Punta Cana early on March 6. Her disappearance is being investigated as an accident, according to sources.
Riibe, who met Konanki that night, told prosecutors that they went swimming and kissed in the ocean. He claimed they were then slammed by a wave and dragged into the ocean by the tide, according to a transcript provided to ABC News by two Dominican Republic sources.
Riibe stated that he held Konanki and attempted to bring them out of the water.
“I was trying to make sure that she could breathe the entire time — that prevented me from breathing the entire time and I took in a lot of water,” according to him.
“When I finally touched the sand, I positioned her in front of me.” “Then she got up to go get her belongings because the ocean had moved us,” Riibe told the prosecutor. “She wasn’t out of the water because it was up to her knee. She was walking at an angle through the water.”
“The last time I saw her, I enquired whether she was alright. I didn’t hear her reaction because I started vomiting from all the water I’d ingested,” he explained. “After vomiting, I looked around and couldn’t see anyone. “I thought she had taken her belongings and left.”
Riibe claimed he dozed asleep on a beach chair, awoke hours later, and returned to his hotel room.
According to two people familiar with the inquiry, Konanki’s family made a formal request to Dominican police on Monday to declare their daughter dead. According to the sources, Riibe’s parents stated that he was participating with the inquiry and that no evidence of foul play existed.
On Tuesday, the Dominican Republic Civil Defence declared that it would reduce its search and rescue efforts.
