Person Of Interest In Missing Pitt Student Case Free To Leave DR

PITTSBURGH, PA — A judge in the Dominican Republic has cleared the way for the last person to see missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki alive to return home to the United States.

The judge ruled on Tuesday that Joshua Riibe should be freed from the police surveillance and de facto house arrest he has been under since Konanki disappeared nearly two weeks ago. But CBS News reported the timing of his departure from the Dominican Republic remains unclear, as there was no immediate decision about returning his passport, which authorities confiscated last week.

Riibe said he wants to return to the United States, per NBC News.

"I can't go anywhere, and I really just want to be able to go home," he said.

Riibe, 22, of Iowa, has been identified by authorities as a person of interest in Konanki's disappearance but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Konanki, 20, of Ashburn, Virginia and a citizen of India, was one of six Pitt students on a spring break trip to Punta Cana. She was last seen on a beach in the early morning hours of March 6.

Riibe has told police the two of them were in the ocean outside of the hotel when they were overcome by a large wave. He said he was able to get the two of them back on the beach but passed out a short time later. When he awakened, she was gone.

Police have said no signs of violence were found at the beach. A spokesperson for the hotel where Konanki was staying told NBC News that red flags indicating that the sea had a strong current and very high waves were flying when Konanki disappeared.

On Monday, Konanki's parents asked Dominican Republic authorities to officially declare her dead. Her parents told the New York Post on Tuesday that they now believe that Konanki drowned and that Ribbe was not involved in her death.

“Both sides of the authorities have shown us how high the ocean waves were at the time of the incident, and both sides of the authorities have clarified the person of interest was not a suspect from the beginning,” her father, Subbarayudu, told The Post. “It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that we are coming to terms with the fact our daughter has drowned.”