The Iowa man who was the last person who saw student Sudiksha Konanki of the University of Pittsburgh before disappearing into the Dominican Republic was dramatically pulled aside by American border day on arrival in Puerto Rico.
Joshua Riibe, 22, was grilled on Wednesday evening at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, while his father, Albert Riibe, was filmed against his son to ask his lawyer.
The senior of St. Cloud State University previously left the Dominican Republic on Jetblue flight 2538. Once arrived in the American territory, he was taken by customs and border patrouille after an agent said that his passport was not stamped by their Dominican Republic counterparts.
An American immigration officer confirmed to DailyMail.com that Riibe was questioned about the discrepancy of the passport before he was released and was allowed on board a connecting flight to the United States.
The official refused to provide the destination of Riibe according to the privacy rules of the government.
Puerto Rican television station WAPA showed Riibe's father, Albert Riibe, screaming: “Ask for your lawyer,” after he was accompanied a corridor.
“Please, just don't comment,” Albert Riibe told a reporter. “No comment is what I have said several times and I am pretty sure that that means no comments.”
“I'm just an ordinary person. I don't know how to do this stuff. I am just a father who had taken away his son and I don't understand, “added the annoyed parent before he stormed away. “We have just tried to stay together for two weeks and now I don't understand, I'm just …”
Shown: Joshua Riibe on Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Wednesday evening before he board
Albert Riibe complained to Wapa Television in San Juan, Puerto Rico that his son, Joshua Riibe, was held by American customs and border protection agents for interrogating on Wednesday evening from a Jetblue flight on Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport on Wednesday evening. Joshua Riibe went through an inspection because his passport of the United States was not stamped by customs agents in the Dominican Republic before he boarded his flight
Sudiksha Konanki, 20, disappeared on March 6 from a beach in the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Riibe was called a person of interest by the Dominican authorities who launched a total search for the 20-year-old Konanki after she had disappeared from a beach in the Riu Republica Hotel in the early morning of 6 March.
The five -star resort's security camera system showed Riibe with Konanki, his friend Carte Joseph and three girlfriends from Konanki to the beach at 4:15 am.
Two from Konanki's friends were returned to their rooms at 4:55 am, followed by Joseph and another young women at 5:05 am.
The same camera grabbed a shirtless and barefoot Riibe on the way to his room at 8:54 am without Konanki in sight.
Riibe had seized his mobile phone and passport by the authorities, who forbidden him to leave the country and kept him in the resort under strict supervision.
Joshua Riibe was considered a person of interest by the authorities of the Dominican Republic who investigated the disappearance of the pre-Med Student Sudiksha Konanki of the University of Pittsburgh
Sudiksha Konanki disappeared from the Riu Republica Resort in Punta Cana last Thursday
The former high school whore, who has a friend in the United States, gave conflicting and confusing statements of what happened on the beach.
He told the police that he and Konanki were going to swim and were eliminated by a large wave. He claimed that he used his lifeguard training to drag her back to the coast, but that the last time he saw her, she was deep in water.
He managed to get out and fainted on a sunbug, he said. Konanki was never seen again.
Riibe was admitted on 12 March for another round of questions and told a public prosecutor that he and Konanki drank on the beach and then in the Ocean Kuden when they were swept by waves.
He refused to answer several questions, where the public prosecutor was looking for him about how they could be sure what he was honest.
He was also asked if he knew if Sudiksha was able to swim, whether she gestured or cried in the sea, when he called the police or told the hotel, whether he had told his friends about what happened and also asked how he felt about the situation.
Every time he replied: “My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice before he is silent.
Photocredit: El Diario Libre
Surveillance video -Images obtained by Dominican Republic News Outlet Noticias Sin showed Joshua Riibe (left) and Sudiksha Konanki (second from left) after their friends to the beach in the Riu Republica Hotel before Konanki disappeared on 6 March
During the weekend, Riibe was taken out of his room and joined the attorney -general Yeni Berenice on the beach, where he gave a chronological explanation for the events.
The lawyers of Riibe, established in Dominican Republic, submitted a Writ van Habeas Corpus on Monday, with the argument that he had been illegally detained and was not accused of a crime.
The petition was established on the same day that Konanki's parents had called on the Dominican national police to declare her legally death.
“By starting this process, our family will enable to start the grieving process and tackle the things related to her absence,” wrote Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki. “Although no explanation can really alleviate our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.”
During a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Edwin Rijo ruled that Riibe could cooperate in the investigation without being held up and allowing him to leave the country.
Riibe complained that he had no access to his passport and visited the American embassy in Santo Domingo, where he received a new one.
