An American college student held in North Korea for 17 months is finally on his way home but with a tragic twist as his parents say he has been in a coma for more than a year.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed Tuesday 22-year-old Otto Warmbier was released from prison and would be reunited with his family.
State Department officials refused to comment on Warmbier's health, citing department guidelines, but said the last time the U.S. had any access to Warmbier, through the Swedish Embassy, was March of last year.
Warmbier's parents described their son's release as a medical evacuation. Fred and Cindy Warmbier said they were told their son was given a sleeping pill shortly after his trial last March, and he never woke up.
“At the moment, we're just treating this like he's been in an accident,” Fred Warmbier told The Washington Post. “We get to see our son Otto tonight,” he told the newspaper
North Korea had sentenced Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, to a 15-year prison term for attempting to steal a propaganda poster.