Joshua Riibe, named as a person of interest and not a suspect, allegedly told Dominican prosecutors he and Konanki kissed before he tried to save her life when they were hit by a big wave. He told prosecutors he thought Konanki would be OK because she was in knee-deep water, ABC News reported. Riibe then allegedly fell asleep on the beach.

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,

Joshua Riibe told investigators he tried to save missing student Sudiksha Konanki from the ocean, according to an interview transcript obtained by ABC News. Authorities said Riibe is not a suspect.