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American College Student Held In North Korea From Cincinnati Suburb

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The U.S. university student North Korea says it has arrested was a top student at a suburban Cincinnati high school.

Wyoming City Schools spokeswoman Susanna Max says Otto Warmbier was the salutatorian of his 2013 graduating class in the highly rated public school north of Cincinnati. He also played soccer for Wyoming High School.

Max says school officials are in communication with Warmbier's family, which includes two sisters in Wyoming schools. She says the school district asks that everyone respect the family's privacy.

Another southwest Ohio native was detained by North Korea in 2014. Jeffrey Fowle of the Dayton area was held nearly six months. The married father of three children said he was held after leaving a Bible he hoped would get to "underground" Christians.

North Korea announced Friday that Warmbier committed a "hostile act" while visiting the authoritarian country.

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