Joshua Riibe's return to the U.S. remains unclear as there was no immediate decision about returning his passport, which authorities confiscated last week.

A Dominican Republic judge has accepted St. Cloud University student Joshua Riibe’s request for release after his attorneys argued that he was unlawfully detained following the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki.

A man who investigators believe was the last person to see missing US college student Sudiksha Konanki alive appeared in a Dominican Republic court Tuesday to ask it to grant him freedom, arguing Dominican authorities have inappropriately restricted his movements without charges after the 20-year-old woman’s disappearance.