Death of U.S. student held by North Korea shocks fellow ex-detainees

FILE PHOTO: Jeffrey Fowle (C) and his wife Tatyana (R), are greeted by U.S. Air Force 88 Air Base Wing Commander Col. John Devillier upon arrival at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio early October 22, 2014. Marie Vanover/U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - The death this week of an American university student held prisoner for 17 months by North Korea left Ohio municipal worker Jeffrey Fowle shaken.

Fowle, 59, is one of 16 Americans who have been imprisoned by the reclusive state over the last two decades, including three who remain detained. Like student Otto Warmbier, he visited North Korea with a tour group and was taken into custody at the airport when trying to leave.