A man who was the last person to see a Pittsburgh student before her disappearance had had his passport confiscated amid the search to find her.
Sudiksha Konanki, a 20-year-old University of Pittsburgh pre-med student, who is an Indian national, disappeared in the early hours of March 6 on the beach of the Riu República Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, sparking a frantic search by air, sea, and land.
Konanki, who is from Loudon County, Virginia, had traveled to Punta Cana with five female friends from her school, and surveillance cameras captured them drinking in the hotel lobby on March 6 before entering the hotel beach along with two men at around 4.15AM according to law enforcement statements.
According to CNN's sources, cameras later recorded the five women and one man leaving the beach at around 4.55AM, with Konanki appearing to have stayed behind with the remaining man, identified as 22-year-old Minnesota college senior Joshua Riibe.
The outlet reports that surveillance cameras captured him leaving the beach just before 9AM but Konanki was nowhere to be seen.
According to reports from the New York Post, Riibe's passports has been seized by authorities in the Dominican Republic.
It is claimed that officials confiscated Riibe’s travel documents nearly 10 days after Konanki was last seen, though the Iowa native has been cooperating with the investigation.
He told NBC News: "I’m just trying to help them out. The ocean is a dangerous place."
Attorneys for Riibe acknowledged to the outlet that his passport had been confiscated and that he is paired with police escorts “permanently” and must remain at his hotel while the investigation is ongoing, "so no, he is not free to leave,” his lawyers confirmed.
Riibe is believed to be the last person to see Konanki before her disappearance after the pair remained on the beach together when their friends returned to the hotel.
The student was questioned by the Dominican Republic's attorney general’s office, sharing his side of what happened that evening.
The group had headed to the beach at around 4AM, with surveillance footage capturing Riibe and Konanki walking arm in arm.
While the rest of the group headed back at around 4.50AM, Riibe and Konanki headed into the waist-deep waters before they were swept out to sea by large waves.
Riibe claimed to have grabbed Konanki and brought her closer to the shore as they struggled to resurface, claiming to have swallowed sea water in the process.
The young man told authorities according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Dominican Republic’s Noticias Sin: "I was a lifesaver. I grabbed her and pulled her out."
After getting them back to knee-deep water, Riibe claims to have made his way onto the shore where he threw up due to the seawater he'd ingested, and says his last recollection was of Konanki walking at an angle through the water over to where she'd left her belongings.
He added: "The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was OK. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the seawater I had swallowed."
Riibe then says he passed out on the beach before waking up hours later and returning to his hotel room around 9AM.
Konanki was reported missing by the friends she'd traveled with at around 4PM, and clothing believed to belong to the 20-year-old was found on a set of beach chairs at the resort.
According to photos obtained by CDN, a white sarong and a pair of beige flip-flops similar to those she was wearing were found next to the leg of a sunlounger during the investigation.
According to authorities, the clothing - which appears to match what Konanki was wearing on the night of her disappearance - showed no signs of being tampered with.
No charges have yet been filed and the search for Konanki remains ongoing.