The Iowa man previously identified as a person of interest in the disappearance of missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic is headed home to the US.
Joshua Riibe, 22, got a new passport from the US consulate on the Caribbean island and was on his way home with his father after being detained there for nearly two weeks, his lawyers said Wednesday.
“The prosecutor’s office of La Altagracia informed [Riibe] of their readiness to return his passport,” the Dominican law firm of Guzman Ariza said in an email to The Post. “While Joshua appreciated this decision, he chose, for privacy reasons, to apply for a new passport at the US Consulate, which was promptly issued.
“We are pleased to announce that Joshua and his father are currently traveling back to their home in the United States.”
The announcement marks the end of an ordeal for the young St. Cloud State College student who had been detained in the Dominican Republic since the University of Pittsburgh coed disappeared on March 6 while the two went for an early morning swim in rough waters at the RIU Hotel & Resort in Punta Cana.
Riibe told police he pulled Konanki to safety but then passed out on the beach – and she has not been seen since.
Authorities described him as a person of interest in the case but never identified him as a suspect in her disappearance – despite seizing his passport and phone.
At a heated court proceeding on Tuesday, prosecutors disputed that he was being detained over the objections of Riibe’s lawyers.
Judge Edwin Delgado granted Riibe’s request to be free from police surveillance, allowing him to leave the resort but leaving him still trapped on the island.
On Wednesday, he boarded a flight to the US and is on his way home to Rock Rapids.
