GRAND FORKS - Prosecutors said Friday they were dropping their objection to unsealing their evidence against a man accused in the disappearance of a University of North Dakota student, saying they wanted to clear up "misinformation."

It wasn't immediately clear when court files would be available in the state's case against Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, who has been charged with kidnapping Dru Sjodin, 22, last month from a mall parking lot.

Rodriguez's public defender, David Dusek, has 10 days to respond to a motion to unseal the papers. In an interview with The Associated Press, Dusek didn't say what he would advise his client.

"The most important thing is to preserve Mr. Rodriguez's constitutional rights," Dusek said, on his way to meet with Rodriguez. He said they were to talk about the case for the first time, though it was their third meeting. Dusek still hasn't seen police reports, he said.

Media coverage of Sjodin's disappearance has been intense. Some of it has been wrong, Grand Forks County State's Attorney Peter Welte said, though he didn't single out any reports.

"There's a lot of information and misinformation out there right now, so we thought it appropriate to unseal," he said. Media organizations had filed legal motions to compel the release, and one of them, The (Fargo) Forum, immediately filed a new motion for expedited release.

One newspaper reported Friday that blood matching Sjodin's type was found in Rodriguez's car. Another reported that a knife sheath was found in the mall parking lot. Both cited unidentified sources in law enforcement or close to the investigation.

At a news conference, Sjodin's father, Allan, said the reports "certainly put a hurt to us." But family and friends haven't given up on finding Dru Sjodin alive, he said.

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

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.

Friday's search for Sjodin was limited to law enforcement, in an area north of East Grand Forks, Minn., with no plans to mobilize volunteers. Family and friends have continued to search, but Allan Sjodin said they were re-evaluating that. Conditions were snowy and cold.

Asked if he had tried to contact Rodriguez, 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."

At the news conference, investigators again refused to talk about their conversations with Rodriguez.

"We've got a long way to go yet," Police Capt. Michael Kirby said of the investigation.

A day earlier, Rick Brown, assistant state's attorney for Grand Forks County, said there was little chance prosecutors would offer to cut a deal with Rodriguez in exchange for information on Sjodin.

Police Sgt. Michael Hedlund said his department had no plans to cut back its efforts. But he expects to lose investigators from other agencies.

The odds of finding Sjodin alive fade with each passing day, Hedlund said.

"You hate to sit there and look at statistics, but national statistics aren't in favor of us in this point and time," he said. "But we're still hoping for a positive outcome."

Rodriguez, a convicted rapist who the state of Minnesota had been classified as the most dangerous type of sex offender, faced a preliminary hearing Feb. 4, and arraignment for Feb. 6.

His past includes a 1980 conviction for attempted kidnapping and assault of a woman in nearby Crookston, Minn.

The victim of that assault recounted it Friday, saying Rodriguez approached her on the street near her home and asked for directions.

"When I told him that he must be on the wrong street, then he turned and came in front of me and he pulled a knife, he had a knife," Ardi Whalen said on the Today show. "He said 'Get in the car or I'll kill you.' I reached out with my left hand, I was going to hit him or push him or something, and then he stabbed me in the left elbow and in the stomach and ran to his car, and I ran home."

Rodriguez served 23 years. He was released in May, and moved back in with his mother in Crookston.

Police notified Whalen in April that Rodriguez would be released from prison.

"I felt sick in my stomach," Whalen said. "I was glad that we no longer lived in Crookston. Because I knew that he was coming back to Crookston."

(On the Net: http://www.finddru.com.)