12 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti shares escape story, says gang provided clean water & food

Twelve missionaries who were kidnapped in Haiti managed to flee on their own, according to their US-based church.

Tuesday, 21st December 2021

Twelve missionaries who were kidnapped in Haiti managed to flee on their own, according to their US-based church. The church officials stated the group fled at night and relied on the stars for direction as they trekked through the deep wilderness for hours. After being kept captive since October, Christian Aid Ministries announced last week that the group had been released. The group who kidnapped them had demanded a ransom of $1 million (£740,000) per captive. After visiting an orphanage, 17 missionaries and their families were kidnapped in total. A total of five people had already been released. Their storey drew international attention to Haiti's escalating gang kidnapping problem. "They discovered a method to unlock the closed and blocked door, filed silently to the path they [had] selected to follow, and fled the room where they were kept," church spokesperson Weston Showalter said during a news conference in Ohio. Using stars to guide them, the gang walked in the direction of a mountain they had seen days before, evading "many guards." A married couple, a 10-month-old baby, and children aged three, fourteen, and fifteen made comprised the group. Four adult guys and two adult women were also present. Mr Showalter claimed they travelled through "woods and thickets, working through thorns and briars." He described how the entire party, including the children, kept silent throughout the ordeal and how the infant was covered in garments to keep her safe from the thorny briars. "It took two hours to get past the thickets. Throughout the hike, we were in gang territory." He said this while quoting one of the fugitives. Around dawn, they came across someone with a phone who assisted them in contacting authorities. According to Christian Aid Ministries, the missionaries were later taken back to Florida on a US Coast Guard flight. The vast majority of them have since returned to their families. At the time of their release, police spokesman Gary Desrosiers told the AFP news agency that the group, known as 400 Mazowo, had been negotiating with authorities for weeks. Two members of the group were released in November and three more in early December, but their identities have remained unknown. According to the church, the gang provided the missionaries with food and clean drinking water, as well as baby formula for the infant. However, the washing water was tainted, causing skin ulcers around mosquito bites in some of the escapees. Mr Showalter refuted allegations that the group's driver was a Haitian native. He stated that the driver was a Canadian and that he is now accessible as well. "The captives courageously reminded the gang leader of God on multiple occasions, warning him of God's inevitable wrath if he and the gang members continue in their gangs," Mr Showalter said, adding that the group kept a 24-hour prayer vigil while held captive.