American nurse and her young daughter freed nearly 2 weeks after abduction in Haiti
American nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter were freed Wednesday, nearly two weeks after they were kidnapped in Haiti’s capital, according to aid organization El Roi Haiti.
The Christian aid group, which was founded by Dorsainvil’s husband, asked that neither she nor her family be contacted. “There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation,” the group said in a statement.
The group added that it had confirmed the safe release “with a heart of gratitude and immense joy.” No other details were immediately available, including whether any ransom was paid.
The U.S. State Department said it welcomed news that the two had been freed and thanked its Haitian and U.S. inter-agency partners for facilitating the release.
“We have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” the department said. “As you can imagine, these individuals have been through a very difficult ordeal, both physically and mentally.”
Officials provided no other details.
The United States is praising Kenya’s interest in leading a multinational force in the unstable Caribbean nation, but rights groups have concerns.
Witnesses had told the Associated Press that armed men seized Dorsainvil, a New Hampshire native, and her young daughter in late July from a clinic in a gang-controlled area of Port-au-Prince, where Dorsainvil works.
El Roi Haiti offers medical care, education and other basic services to people in the country’s poorest areas.
Gang warfare has increasingly plagued Haiti since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Gang members regularly kill, rape and hold residents for ransom. A local nonprofit organization has documented 539 kidnappings since January, a significant rise over previous years.
In a video posted on the El Roi Haiti website, Dorsainvil describes Haitians as “full of joy, and life and love,” and as people she was blessed to know.
In a blog post, El Roi Haiti said Dorsainvil fell in love with Haiti’s people on a visit there after a devastating 2010 earthquake hit the Caribbean nation.
Dorsainvil graduated from Regis College in Weston, Mass., where a program supports nursing education in Haiti.
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