The “person of interest” in the disappearance of missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki claims he saved them both from drowning before she vanished.

Joshua Steven Riibe, an American from Rock Rapids, Iowa, has been named in the investigation into the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki. Riibe, a senior at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, was the last person seen with Konanki before she vanished in Punta Cana on March 6.

Police have interviewed Iowa man ‘at length’ in relation to Sudiksha Konanki disappearance - Joshua Riibe is believed to have been vacationing in Punta Cana, although was not a part of Konanki’s group

As an international search continued Friday for a University of Pittsburgh student who vanished while on a spring break trip to the Dominican Republican earlier this month, the last person believed to see her told authorities there he tried to save her from waves and thought she had taken her things and left afterward,

The man who last saw missing University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki told investigators he thought she was OK and had "taken her things and left."

Sudiksha Konanki (20), an Indian citizen and permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana

What we know about missing Pitt student Sudiksha Konanki so far