Jeremy Hodge, 25, of Los Angeles had been detained for unknown reasons.
On Sunday, officials said he had been released from police custody. His Egyptian roommate, filmmaker Hossam Meneai, remains in police custody. He was ordered to be held an additional 15 days pending investigation.
Meneai, 36, a native of El-Arish in North Sinai, is being investigated on charges of spreading false news and disrupting public order, according to his lawyer Ahmed El-Sandabay.
Facebook and other social media had been Hodge's mother's link to the other side of the world as she waited for word on her son. Hodge has lived in the war torn country since October 2012, working as an Arabic translator. An unusual Facebook post tipped off Hodge's mother, Lisa De Moraes, that something wasn't right.
According to De Moraes, the post said, "Does anybody know Jeremy's passport number? The Embassy needs to know."
She said that on Wednesday night, police went to Hodge's apartment to look for Meneai, who wasn't home at the time.
"His English roommate does not speak Arabic, so Jeremy was translating and they just were very fixated on the fact that Jeremy spoke such good Arabic. This was disconcerting to them," said De Moraes.
