New Hampshire nurse Alix Dorsainvil and daughter released after being kidnapped in Haiti
Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse from New Hampshire, and her daughter have been released after they were kidnapped in Haiti, according to a statement from the organization El Roi Haiti, which Dorsainvil works for.
"It is with a heart of gratitude and immense joy that we at El Roi Haiti confirm the safe release of our staff member and friend, Alix Dorsainvil and her child who were held hostage in Port au Prince, Haiti. Today we are praising God for answered prayer," the statement said.
The organization asked that no one contact Dorsainvil or her family.
"There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation," the statement said.
Dorsainvil and her daughter were kidnapped from the community ministry, El Roi Haiti, where she works in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Gangs in the city frequently carry out kidnapping-for-profit operations targeting local communities for ransom payments.
The majority of victims are local, but foreigners have been seized in the past. In 2021, 17 missionaries from the United States and Canada were taken by a local gang while traveling on the road north of the capital and held for more than a month.
Authorities noted 1,014 kidnappings in Haiti from January to June this year – 256 women, 13 girls and 24 boys – according to a UN report.
The US State Department raised concerns over the security situation in the country on the day Dorsainvil and her daughter were abducted, ordering the departure of nonemergency government personnel from Haiti on July 28.
Dorsainvil moved to Haiti after her husband invited her to a Haitian school to distribute nursing care for the children, she said in undated footage from the organization's website.
The couple wed in Haiti in January 2021, a 2021 newsletter published by Sandro Dorsainvil's alma mater, Lustre Christian High School in Montana, said.