ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa (KTIV/NBC) - The last person to see the missing University of Pittsburg student is telling police what he remembers about the minutes leading up to her disappearance.

The young man from Northwest Iowa, 22-year-old Joshua Riibe of Rock Rapids, says he and Sudiksha Konanki were swept into the sea by a big wave but that he helped her get back to shore.

According to NBC, the new details come in a transcript of the interview Dominican Republic investigators conducted with the key witness on Wednesday, March 12.

Riibe says he and a friend introduced themselves to Konanki and her friends at a bar, where the group drank pink tequila shots and then went to the beach in the early morning hours.

“We were in waist-deep water, talking and kissing a little,” he told investigators. “A big wave came and hit us both, and with the rising water, it swept us out to sea.

The investigators asked: what happened next?

“As soon as we were able to surface, we tried to call for help, but there was no one there,” said Riibe.

He says he then used his lifeguard training to get them both back to the shore.

“I swallowed a lot of water. I could have lost consciousness several times. when I finally reached the ground on the beach, I pulled her in front of me,” added Riibe. “She wasn’t out of the water, as it was up to our knees. she was walking at an angle in the water. the last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn’t hear her answer because I started vomiting all the seawater I’d swallowed.”

NBC says Riibe told investigators after becoming ill, he looked around, didn’t see Sudiksha, and assumed she’d left the beach. he fell asleep on the beach and didn’t return to his room until 9:30 the next morning.

The investigator asked, “How did you find out the girl disappeared?”

“My friend asked me if I knew where the girl was. I told him I thought she had gone to her room, and he told me she never returned,” explained Riibe.

On the advice of his attorney, the witness declined to answer a number of questions, including what he thought about Sudiksha’s disappearance. Thus, the extensive search for the missing pre-med student continues.

ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa (KTIV/KUOO) - A Northwest Iowa man has been named a person of interest in the case of a missing college student in the Dominican Republic.

According to KUOO Radio , the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office says 22-year-old Joshua Riibe of Rock Rapids has information about University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konaki.

Authorities say Konaki went missing in the early hours of March 6 while on spring break. The 20-year-old student from Virginia went missing in the Dominican Republic at a beach near a resort where she was staying with several friends.

According to Fox News , authorities have interviewed Riibe at length, but they noted he has not been accused of any crime at this time in the case.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman previously told WUSA that the people she was with were being interviewed as his department continues to coordinate with federal organizations, including the FBI.

“We’re going on the presumption that she’s still alive and want to make sure we’re exhausting every possible lead that we can,” Chapman was quoted.

The Konanki family shared that her belongings, including a phone and wallet, were left with her friends, but she’s known to always carry her phone. The Associated Press reports that her parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, have urged authorities to widen their investigation into her disappearance.

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