A Florida couple visiting Haiti was kidnapped nearly an hour after landing as their captors demanded $200,000 for their safe return.
Abigail and Jean-Dickens Toussaint, both 33, were kidnapped on March 18 by a local gang who stopped their bus in Port-au-Prince and demanded that all Americans get off, according to their family.
The couple’s grieving family warned them to stay away from the country which is gripped by political unrest and gangs.
“We were very worried when they said they were going, we told them not to go but they wanted to go,” said Nikese Toussaint, a relative. ABC7.
They also took a family friend who was traveling with them from the airport to the nearby town of Leogan.
Abigail and Jean-Dickens Toussaint, both 33, were kidnapped by a Haitian gang while riding a bus in Port-au-Prince on March 18. In the photo: the couple with their one-year-old son.
The couple’s grieving family warned them to stay away from the country which is gripped by political unrest and gangs.
The day the couple went missing, they sent a message to their family telling them they landed safely around 8:55 a.m. local time, according to ABC7. They never sent another update.
The couple’s kidnappers initially asked the family for $6,000 for their return before increasing the amount to $200,000.
“We don’t have that kind of money,” Christie Desormes, her niece, told WPLG.
It is not clear how the kidnappers contacted the family.
The couple share a one-year-old son, who stayed in the United States with his family. He is currently with his family.
The Toussaints could miss their son’s second birthday on March 28 if they are not released.
“It’s a lot of emotions, it’s devastating, you feel angry that it happened and then you feel numb at the same time because it doesn’t feel real,” Desormes said. NBC.
Desormes started a Change.org petition to get the attention of politicians who can help bring his aunt and uncle home.
They are US citizens. they are parents. They are brothers. They are my family. They are loved and most of all they are people who desperately need your help,’ Desormes wrote.
As of Sunday, almost 4,500 signatures were collected.
The day the couple went missing, they sent a message to their family telling them they landed safely around 8:55 a.m. local time. They never sent another update.
The couple’s kidnappers initially asked the family for $6,000 for their return before increasing the amount to $200,000.
It is unclear how the family was able to come into contact with the gang that took the couple. Pictured: Civilians in Haiti
The couple share a one-year-old son, who stayed in the United States with his family. He is currently with his family.
The couple will likely miss their son’s second birthday on March 28 if they don’t return home on time. In the photo: Abigail Toussaint
The family is working with US authorities to bring the couple home.
“When a US citizen goes missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families as we can,” the US State Department wrote in a statement.
No additional information was provided.
In 2021, the kidnapping of 17 missionaries in Haiti made national news. The group of 12 adults and five minors traveled to the country with the Ohio-based agency Christian Aid Ministries (CAM).
They were kidnapped in October 2021 and held hostage until their brave escape two months later in December.
His family started a Change.org petition to get the attention of politicians and help them return home.