PUNTACANA, Dominican Republic – A Dominican Republic judge on Tuesday evening ruled in favor of witness Joshua Riibe’s writ of habeas corpus in the March 6 disappearance of University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki from a Punta Cana resort.
Riibe appeared in court in the Dominican Republic, where he has been held in the disappearance of Konanki, 20, who has been missing since the early morning hours of March 6. Riibe has not been named a suspect in the case, which has been considered a missing person case and not a criminal one.
The 22-year-old appeared with his father as prosecutors argued that the witness’ freedom has not been limited while he has been held in the Dominican after his passport was confiscated, and he has the right to walk around the RIU Republica resort without issue.
It was not immediately clear when Riibe would be able to leave the country. Riibe will have another hearing on March 28, when he is expected to receive an explanation about the location of his passport. He can move freely within the Dominican Republic until then.
Riibe’s lawyers had said his passport was confiscated, but prosecutors argued that he lost his passport. Meanwhile, Dominican authorities returned Riibe’s friend’s passport on Tuesday afternoon.
Lawyers and prosecutors screamed at each other during a very heated hearing on Tuesday after Riibe’s counsel submitted photos of him surrounded by police and patrol cars.
Riibe is not paying for lodging; the RIU allowing him to remain there for free.
His lawyer, meanwhile, said the prosecutor is playing with the court and the public opinion. His lawyer claimed that Riibe always has police around for his safety.
The 22-year-old Iowa man and his father also had the opportunity to testify Tuesday.
‘Ever since my passport was taken, it’s very rare I’m alone.’
Riibe said on Sunday, he woke up and went to get breakfast, and when he returned to his hotel room, police ‘showed up saying that they were p—ed we didn’t tell them.’
He added that police eat with him, and officers went ‘crazy’ when he and his father went to the American embassy.
‘So we had to wait in the lobby for the tourist police to arrive to get escorted,’ he said. ‘That same day, I had another meeting, and when we grabbed lunch, the police [were] there. The issue is that we only have [one] method of communication, so every time they need us, we have to be in the room. I can’t go anywhere. I really want to be home. Hug my family and friends.’
Ribbe also said he ‘hugged’ Konanki’s parents before they left the Dominican and returned home to Virginia.
‘I understand there is an investigation, and I’ve cooperated, but haven’t been allowed to leave,’ he told the court on Tuesday. ‘When Sudiksha’s parents left, they said goodbye and even hugged me. She thanked me for saving her daughter the first time. All I’ve been doing is waiting in my hotel room to be interviewed but at this point. I just want to be home.’
Konanki went swimming in the ocean with the witness, identified as 22-year-old Riibe of Iowa, outside the RIU Republica resort in Punta Cana after drinking at a hotel bar. She has yet to be located.
Riibe has been detained in the Dominican since then and filed a writ of habeas corpus on Monday, challenging his de facto detention in the country. He arrived in court for a hearing Tuesday in which a judge will rule on whether he can return home, sources said.
The State Department confirmed to Fox News Digital earlier on Tuesday that it was assisting a witness in University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki’s March 6 disappearance from the Dominican Republic.
‘We take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are providing consular assistance,’ the State Department said in a statement when asked about Riibe’s Monday filing of a writ of habeas corpus. ‘Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.’
Konanki had gone to the beach with a group of seven other friends after a night of drinking. Six of her friends returned to the RIU Republica around 6 a.m., leaving the 20-year-old student alone with Riibe, who was also on spring break at the RIU Republica and is believed to be one of the last people to see her alive.
Riibe, who is considered a witness in Konanki’s disappearance, apparently told Dominican authorities that while they were swimming, a large wave crashed over them, according to a translated transcript of his interview to police shared with Fox News.
He said he tried to help her and last saw her wading through knee-deep water. He then began vomiting up seawater and noticed that Konanki was no longer in sight and assumed she had returned to her hotel room. Riibe said he fell asleep in a beach chair before eventually returning to his room.
Hotel surveillance footage shows Riibe returning to his hotel room around 9 a.m. on March 6.
Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and SreeDevi Konanki, are not disputing Riibe’s account of what happened, according to a letter they sent to Dominican police on Monday. Her father had previously asked police to investigate all possibilities.
‘Following an extensive search, Dominican authorities have concluded that Sudiksha is believed to have drowned,’ her parents wrote in a letter to La Policia Nacional, the country’s national police force, Monday night. ‘Her clothes were discovered on a beach near where she was last seen. The individual last seen with her is cooperating with the investigation, and no evidence of foul play has been found.’
They said they made the request after ‘much deliberation’ and thanked supporters for the international search effort.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where Konanki is from, issued a statement sharing her family’s belief that she drowned.
‘While a final decision to make such a declaration rests with authorities in the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in every way possible as we continue to review the evidence and information made available to us in the course of this investigation,’ the sheriff’s office said.
Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota who has not been accused of a crime but is considered a crucial witness in the case, has been held under surveillance at the resort since Konanki was reported missing.
His family has called his continued required presence in the country ‘irregular.’
Riibe is not accused of a crime, but authorities confiscated his passport while investigating his account of what happened.
Fox News’ Mara Robles and Nate Foy contributed to this report.
