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Amanda Knox knows exactly what Joshua Riibe is feeling at this time.
Senior at the University of St. Cloud in Minnesota, who is believed to be among the last people to see the student at Pittsburgh Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican RepublicHe left the Caribbean country on March 19, their lawyers said.
Riibe was hidden in the Riu Republica complex in Punta Cana under the strict police monitoring for 11 days before a judge ruled that the situation violated the Dominican law. The restrictions of the 22 -year -old also included confiscating his cell phone and passport.
Joshua Riibe arrives at a court of the Dominican Republic with his father, Albert Riibe, on March 18. (Fox News Digital)
Riibe’s lawyers successfully argued that, as a witness, not suspicious, police control over their movements for a period of 11 days was illegal.
“I had not followed that case, but the first thing is … how can I contact it?” Knox told Fox News Digital. “Because it’s not just a small appointment that would give him … there is a feeling of urgency that he will feel that I know I felt.”
It is believed that Joshua Riibe is among the last people to see his fellow student Sudiksha Konanki in the Dominican Republic. (Fox News Digital)
The mother of two two has a book that was published on Tuesday, “Free: my search for meaning”. He has the struggles that the 37 -year -old man suffered when he tried to reintegrate into society after spending almost four years in an Italian prison. In it, Knox also reflects on what it was like to return to a more normal life, including the search for a life partner, finding a job and going out in public.
Amanda Knox, a married mother of two children, is a defender of the reform of criminal justice and gives conversations about how high profile cases can affect loved ones. (Lucien Knuteson)
Knox said he had some wise advice for Riibe and his parents while trying to navigate the same fears as her and her family experienced.
“I would recommend taking your time because I feel that there is a lot of pressure from the outside world to turn it into content,” he said.
Military personnel seek Sudiksha Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh of the United States who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on March 10. (Photo AP/Francesco Spotorno)
“And also, feeling that you can go back to your life … after you have lost so long, the last thing you want to hear is: ‘Take your time. Take things easy.’ But it’s very, very true.
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Amanda Knox’s book, “Free: my search for meaning,” is now available. (Grand Central Publishing)
“It will be a long trip, whether or not it takes its time,” Knox warned. “But in reality, just allowing the space to be without being in survival mode would be my first advice.”
Fox News Digital communicated with Riibe’s lawyers to comment.
Sudiksha Konanki appears in a photo without date on her Tiktok profile. Konanki and five friends had traveled to the Dominican Republic on March 3 for spring holidays. (@Sudikshakonanki/Tiktok)
Knox, born in Seattle, She was a 20 -year -old student in Perugia who studied abroad when her roommate, Meredith Kercher, was found stabbed to death in 2007. The 21 -year -old was found in the cabin who shared with two Italian women.
Between 2007 and 2015, Amanda Knox spent almost four years in an Italian prison and eight years in trial for a murder she did not commit. (Federico Zirilli/AFP through Getty Images)
The case reached global headlines when the suspicion fell quickly in Knox and her boyfriend of only days, Raffaele Sollecito.
But another man, Rudy Hermann Guide, from the Ivory Coast, was finally convicted of murder after His DNA was found In the crime scene. The European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to pay Knox for police failures, and pointed out that it was vulnerable as a foreign student who had no fluidity in Italian.
Amanda Knox (right) recognizes the cheers of the followers, while her mother Edda Mellas comfort her in Seattle on October 4, 2011. (Stephen Brashear/Getty images)
Knox returned to the United States in 2011, after being released by an Appeals Court in Perugia, and has been established as a worldwide activist by the unjustly convicted. Over the years, she has tried to clear her name.
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British student Meredith Kercher was killed in 2007. She was 21 years old. (Franco Origlia/Getty images)
Today, Knox is a member of the Board of The center of innocence, A non -profit law firm that aims to free innocent people from the prison. It also frequently discusses how high profile cases affect loved ones in a podcast that organizes with her husband, “Labyrinths“
The 37 -year -old violation was released in 2021, after serving most of its 16 -year sentence.
Amanda Knox attends her appeal hearing in the Court of Appeals of Perugia in Perugia, Italy, on September 30, 2011. (Oli scarff/getty images)
It is believed that Riibe is among the last people who saw Konanki, 20, before disappearing in the early hours of March 6 from the beach behind his resort. He The students were visiting the Caribbean nation For spring holidays with friends.
Joshua Riibe, seen here in a Chamber of the Court of the Dominican Republic, has cooperated with the Police. (Greg Wehner/Fox News Digital)
According to the transcription of an interview with the prosecutors, Riibe told the police that he was drinking with Konanki on the beach, and they were kissing in the ocean when they were caught in a current. Riibe said he was a former lifeguard and helped bring her to the ground.
Riibe told the researchers that he vomited when he arrived at the beach and that Konanki said he was going to look for his things. When he looked up, she was gone. Riibe said he was later surprised to hear his disappearance.
LOOK: SUDIKSHA KONANKI STUDENT STUDENT STUDENT
Konanki’s parents, Subbarayudu and Sreedevi Konanki, have asked the Dominican authorities to declare their legally dead daughter. In a letter, they said that after an extensive search, local authorities believed that their daughter had drowned.
SUDIKSHA KONANKI in a Facebook selfie photo. The Junior of the 20 -year -old Pittsburgh University has been missing since March 6, when it disappeared during a spring vacation trip to a five -star complex in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Sudiksha Konanki/Facebook)
While Riibe faced scrutiny, he was not appointed suspect in the case. After a trial exceeding five hours, Judge Edwin Rijo ruled that Riibe, classified as a witness, should have full rights under Dominican law and freedom of movement without restrictions.
Michael Chapman, Sheriff of the Loudoun County in Virginia, Where the Konankis live, he said in a statement that officials have been working with the Dominican authorities and continue to review the evidence in the case.
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Sudiksha Konanki’s parents are seen speaking after her daughter’s disappearance. They believe the student drowned. (Fox 5 AD)
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“The disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki is tragic, and we cannot imagine the pain that your family has been feeling,” he said. “Sudiksha’s family has expressed its belief that he drowned. Although a final decision to make such a statement rests with the authorities of the Dominican Republic, we will support the Konanki family in all possible ways.”
Greg Wehner of Fox News Digital, Bryan Fulls, Mara Robles, Michael Ruiz and Associated Press contributed to this report.
