Dru's Blood In Suspect's Car?

Media reports citing unnamed sources in the case of a missing University of North Dakota student include her blood being found in the suspect's car and a knife sheath discovered in the parking lot of the mall from which she was abducted.

Prosecutors say some of the reports are wrong, but won't say which ones. Instead, they have dropped their objection to unsealing evidence in the case in a bid to clear up "misinformation."

The files were sealed by a judge earlier this week after Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, was arrested and charged with kidnapping Dru Sjodin, 22, last month.

But Grand Forks County State's Attorney Peter Welte, who made the original request to close the files, said mistaken media reports on the evidence convinced him that the information should be made public.

"There's a lot of information and misinformation out there right now, so we thought it appropriate to unseal," Welte said.

Rodriguez's public defender, David Dusek, said he would respond early next week to the motion filed by several media organizations.

"The most important thing is to preserve Mr. Rodriguez's constitutional rights," Dusek said.

Interviewed Friday on MSNBC, Dusek said Rodriguez, a convicted rapist classified as the most dangerous type of sex offender, told him Friday he had nothing to do with Sjodin's disappearance and does not know where she is.

"He came out and actually said, 'I did not kidnap her,"' Dusek said. Reached late Friday at his home, Dusek declined to talk to The Associated Press citing the late hour.

At a news conference, Friday Sjodin's father, Allan, said family and friends haven't given up on finding his daughter alive.

"Dru, we're still looking for you, honey," he said. "We haven't given up on you."

Asked if he had tried to contact Rodriguez, Allan Sjodin said no.

"My focus is still, and my family's focus and all our friends and everyone involved in this is still to find Dru," he said. "We're going to allow the system to take care of Mr. Rodriguez."

Investigators are scaling back their search for the Pequot Lakes, Minn., woman, saying they will follow up on leads as they develop, Sgt. Mike Kirby said.

Police also plan to shut down the tip line, asking people with any new information to call their local law enforcement agencies, or Grand Forks police, Kirby said.

Police have received about 1,400 tips, Kirby said.

Sjodin was last heard from Nov. 22, as she spoke to her boyfriend via cell phone from the parking lot of a Grand Forks shopping mall.

Bail was set at $5 million for Rodriguez, who opted to stay in jail out of concern for his own safety.

Investigators have refused to say what Rodriguez has told them, if anything.

Prosecutors have said there is little chance prosecutors would offer to cut a deal with Rodriguez in exchange for information on Sjodin.