The disappearance of 20-year-old Sudiksha Thirumalesh on March 6th at dawn from the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel in the Dominican Republic has triggered an urgent search by authorities in the Dominican Republic, the United States, and India, where Thirumalesh was born.
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03-20, 2025According to Noticias SIN, the man who was with her on the beach at the time, 22-year-old Joshua Steve Ribe, told prosecutors that he and Thirumalesh were hit by a large wave and swept out to sea as the water receded. Ribe, an American citizen, is not currently considered a suspect, nor has he been charged with any wrongdoing.
Helen Peralta, one of Ribe's lawyers, told CNN on Friday that they have no statement at this time. During his fourth questioning by prosecutors on Wednesday, Ribe described how Thirumalesh became exhausted after they were hit by a wave and his struggle to rescue her. According to Noticias SIN, Ribe said, "It took me a long time to get her out. It was difficult." He said he had lifeguard training, but only for working at swimming pools, not beaches.
Ribe stated, "I was constantly trying to get her to breathe. That prevented me from breathing constantly, and I swallowed a lot of water. I may have lost consciousness a couple of times. When I finally got to the ground on the beach, I held her in front of me." He said the last time he saw Thirumalesh, she was walking in knee-deep water. "The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was okay. I didn't hear her answer because I started throwing up all the seawater I had swallowed."
Ribe continued, "After vomiting, I looked around and didn't see anyone. I assumed she had gone to get something and left." "I felt very bad and exhausted. I fell asleep in a beach chair because I couldn't walk very far." He said the sun and mosquito bites woke him up, and he went to a friend's room to get his phone before returning to his own room to sleep. "I was sleeping in the room, and my friend asked me if I had seen her; I told him no, that I thought she had gone back to her room," Ribe said. His friend told him that Thirumalesh had never returned to her room, which Ribe said "surprised" him. When asked if he had seen Thirumalesh after that night, Ribe said, "I haven't seen her since I saw her walking away in the water."
According to transcripts obtained by Noticias SIN, Ribe declined to answer some of the prosecutor's questions. CNN has seen a copy of the transcript. Detectives from the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office, where Thirumalesh's family resides, conducted an extensive interview with Ribe on Thursday afternoon, in the presence of Ribe's father and lawyer, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Thomas Julia told CNN. Julia said the detectives would return to the United States on Friday.
Since the incident, Ribe says he has been staying in his room and undergoing questioning. Ribe is a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, majoring in land surveying and mapping science, a university spokesperson told CNN. He is from Rock Rapids, Iowa. His aunt, Teresa Ribe, requested privacy in a statement to CNN on Friday. "Our family is going through a very difficult time right now, and we are experiencing a lot of grief and pain," the statement said. "We ask that you give us privacy as we navigate this challenging time together."
Ribe said he first met Thirumalesh at the hotel when he and his friends introduced themselves to Thirumalesh's group. According to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Thirumalesh was at the resort with five other female students from the University of Pittsburgh. The two groups of friends went to a bar together, where they were drinking until "someone suggested we go to the beach," Ribe said in his interview. Two of the women stayed behind. The Dominican Republic National Police said in a statement that Thirumalesh was last seen on surveillance footage entering the beach of the Riu Republica Hotel in Punta Cana with seven others after 4:15 a.m. on March 6.
A source with the Dominican Republic National Police told CNN that surveillance footage showed the group of Americans – Thirumalesh, five other women, and two men – drinking in the hotel lobby at approximately 3 a.m. before heading to the beach. Two people familiar with the investigation told CNN that surveillance cameras captured five women and one man leaving the beach at approximately 4:55 a.m. on Thursday, while Thirumalesh is believed to have stayed behind with another young man. The man was seen leaving the beach area at 8:55 a.m. without Thirumalesh, according to the two people familiar with the investigation.
According to law enforcement sources, when Thirumalesh did not return to her room, her companions initially searched for her before notifying authorities. The Riu chain of hotels said in a statement that the group subsequently reported her missing to hotel staff at approximately 4 p.m. on Thursday. Her father, Thirumalesh Subbarayudu, said she went to Punta Cana for spring break. "My daughter is a very good girl," he said. "She is very ambitious. She wanted to pursue a career in medicine."
Thirumalesh's father wants local authorities to "also investigate other possibilities, including whether this is a kidnapping or human trafficking case," he told CNN from Punta Cana on Sunday. "We don't think she could have survived in the water for more than three days, I think something else may have happened." The Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office also urged caution regarding "public speculation" about Thirumalesh's disappearance, according to a news release on Monday.
"There is a considerable amount of speculation in the public regarding what may have happened to Thirumalesh and who may be involved," the Sheriff's Office said. "We caution anyone from drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions and are committed to ensuring a thorough investigation is conducted before any conclusions are reached."
