The Iowa native was stopped by airport officials at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
while attempting to board a connecting flight home. According to local news outlet Noticias
Sin, authorities flagged his paperwork because his temporary travel documents from the Dominican Republic had not been properly stamped.
Riibe’s father, Albert, appeared visibly frustrated when speaking to reporters at the airport.
“I’m just a dad who had his son taken away… We just spent two weeks trying to stay together,” he told news cameras.
This latest delay comes just after a Dominican judge officially allowed Riibe to leave the
country. After a nearly five-hour hearing on Tuesday, Judge Elvis Delgado ruled that the 22-year-old was free to return home.
Dominican authorities had previously confiscated his passport and restricted his movement while
questioning him multiple times about Konanki’s disappearance.
During the hearing, Riibe pleaded with the court, saying, “I really want to be able to go home,
talk to my family, give them hugs, tell them I miss them,” according to Dominican news outlet Noticias SIN. “I understand I’m here to help, but it’s been ten days and I can’t leave.”
Sudiksha Konanki. Credit: FOX 5.
Despite being named a person of interest by authorities in Loudoun County, Virginia—where Konanki’s family lives—Riibe has not been charged with any crime, nor have Dominican officials declared him a suspect.
Most of the group was seen leaving the beach around 5:55 a.m., but Riibe was later spotted returning to his hotel room alone—without Konanki.
In recent days, her devastated parents have requested that authorities officially declare their daughter deceased, stating that they believe she drowned in the rough ocean waves that morning. They have also made it clear that they do not suspect Riibe of wrongdoing.
“Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides have clarified that the person of interest was never a suspect,” said her father, Subbarayudu Konanki, in a statement to The New York Post.
“It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned,” he added.
