Free Republic

An American student who had been imprisoned in North Korea for 17 months died from lack of oxygen and blood to the brain, an Ohio coroner said on Wednesday. Otto Warmbier’s death on June 19 was due to an unknown injury that occurred more than a year before his death, Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said at a news conference. In response to a question at the news conference, the coroner said there was no evidence of trauma to Warmbier’s teeth nor was there evidence of broken bones.

The parents of Otto Warmbier recalled the optimism they felt when they learned their son was being released from a prison in North Korea during their first interview, three months after their son’s death. Fred and Cindy Warmbier told Fox and Friends they knew their son was in a coma, but hoped medical care in the United States would be enough to save Otto. As soon as they boarded the plane that carried him back to the United States, however, they were met with “howling, this involuntary, inhuman sound.” --snip-- The Warmbiers explained that they’d hoped to stay out of...