Family of last person to see missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki say he wouldnt hurt a fly

Friends of the last person to see missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki are in “total shock” he has been named a person of interest in the case — while his aunt insisted he “wouldn’t hurt a fly.”Joshua Steven Riibe, 24, has been identified as the man seen hugging and walking hand-in-hand with the 20-year-old student just hours before she vanished in the Dominican Republic a week ago.He was called a person of interest — but “not a suspect” — in part from reportedly giving conflicting accounts of his final moments with Konanki, including one version saying he got out of the rough surf and passed out drunk on the beach — only to wake up to find her gone.Friends and relatives insist that the former high school wrestler and football player would never have done anything wrong.“He’s a great kid.He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” an aunt, Theresa Riibe, told the Daily Mail.

A neighbor in Riibe’s hometown of Rock Rapids, Iowa, also told the outlet she was “in total shock” over the news.“I bet my life on it, Josh did not hurt that girl,” his next-door neighbor, Laurel Schreiver, said.“I’ve known Josh since he was a young boy.

There is no way he would harm her or have anything to do with her disappearance.” Schreiver described him as “a super good kid” and a “friendly and good student.”“If he was drunk as I’ve read, that was not the smartest thing to do, but he’s in college on spring break,” Schreiver said, later reiterating: “There is no way he would have hurt the girl.”“I am sure both families are devastated.Josh’s family are great typical small-town Midwest people,” Schreiver added.

Riibe is currently a senior at St.Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he has a girlfriend, his uncle, Richard, told Daily Mail.Surveillance footage of the night Konanki went missing shows her walking with Riibe near the beach around 4:15 a.m.

At one point, the pair can be seen holding hands as Konanki’s spring-break frie...