American last seen with missing Sudiksha Konanki dramatically pulled aside at airport as dad demands 'lawyer'

The Iowa man who was the last person who saw University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki before she vanished in the Dominican Republic was dramatically hauled aside by US border agents on arrival to Puerto Rico.

Joshua Riibe, 22, was grilled at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan on Wednesday evening as his father, Albert Riibe, was filmed yelling to his son through doors to ask for his lawyer.

The St. Cloud State University senior earlier left the Dominican Republic on JetBlue flight 2538. Once arriving in the U.S. territory he was taken by Customs and Border Patrol after an agent said his passport was not stamped by their Dominican Republic counterparts. 

A U.S. immigration official confirmed to DailyMail.com that Riibe was questioned over the passport discrepancy before he was released and allowed to board a connecting flight to the United States.

The official declined to provide Riibe's destination under government privacy rules. 

Puerto Rican television station WAPA showed Riibe's father, Albert Riibe, shouting, 'Ask for your lawyer,' after he was escorted down a hallway.

'Please, just no comment,' Albert Riibe told a reporter. 'No comment is what I said multiple times and I am pretty sure that means no comment.'

'I'm just a regular human. I don't know how to do this stuff. I am just a dad who had his son taken away and I don't understand,' the exasperated parent added before he stormed off. 'We just spent two weeks trying to stay together and now I don't understand, I just ...'

Riibe was named a person of interest by Dominican authorities who launched an all-out search for the 20-year-old Konanki after she disappeared from a beach at the Riu Republica Hotel during the early morning of March 6.

The five-star resort's surveillance camera system showed Riibe walking with Konanki, his friend Carte Joseph and three of Konanki's girl friends towards the beach at 4:15 am.

Two of Konanki's friends were seen returning to their rooms at 4:55 am, followed by Joseph and another of the young women at 5:05 am.

The same camera picked up a shirtless and barefooted Riibe making his way back to his room at 8:54 am without Konanki in sight.

Riibe had his cell phone and passport confiscated by authorities, who barred him from leaving the country and kept him holed up inside the resort under strict surveillance.

The former high school wrestler, who has a girlfriend in the United States, gave conflicting and confusing statements of what transpired on the beach.

He told police that he and Konanki went for a swim and were knocked out by a large wave. He claimed he used his lifeguard training to drag her back towards the shore, but that the last time he saw her she was waist deep in water.

He managed to get out and passed out on a sun bed, he said. Konanki was never seen again.

Riibe was taken in for another round of questions March 12 and told a prosecutor that he and Konanki drank on the beach and then kissed in the ocean when they got swept by waves.

He declined to reply to multiple questions, with the prosecutor probing him over how they could be sure what he was being honest.

He was also questioned if he knew if Sudiksha was able to swim, if she made any gestures or cries in the sea, if he called the cops or told the hotel, if he had told his friends about what happened and was also asked how he felt about the situation.

Each time he replied: 'My lawyers advise me not to answer that question and I follow their advice', before going silent.

Riibe was hauled out of his room over the weekend and joined Attorney General Yeni Berenice at the beach, where he provided a chronological explanation of the events.

Riibe's Dominican Republic-based attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus Monday, arguing that he had been illegally detained and not charged with a crime.

The petition was made the same day Konanki's parents called on the Dominican National Police to declare her legally dead.

'Initiating this process will allow our family to begin the grieving process and address matters related to her absence,' Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki wrote. 'While no declaration can truly ease our grief, we trust that this step will bring some closure and enable us to honor her memory.'

During a hearing Tuesday, Judge Edwin Rijo ruled that Riibe could cooperate in the investigation without being detained and allowed him to leave the country.

Riibe complained that he did not have access to his passport and visited the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, where he was provided a new one.