Last-Known Person to See Missing Student Is Cleared

The US college student named as a "person of interest" in the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic has been officially cleared of wrongdoing, according to reports. Joshua Riibe, the 22-year-old Iowa native who is the last-known person to see Konanki alive, told police he helped get Konanki to shore after the pair were hit by a large wave in the early hours of March 6 before vomiting and passing out. Konanki, who hasn't been seen since, is now presumed to have drowned.

A judge in the DR allowed Riibe to return to the US on March 19 "because he was unlawfully detained surpassing the maximum period of 48 hours permitted under the constitution of the Dominican Republic," Guzman Ariza, the DR law firm that represented Riibe, said Friday, per the New York Post. The written sentence issued Friday was a confirmation of that earlier decision, describing the legal reasoning behind it, and officially concluding the case against Riibe, per Fox News. (More Sudiksha Konanki stories.)