6 Haitian men go missing after arriving in Orlando for Special Olympics
ORLANDO – Six men from Haiti, who were scheduled to attend the Special Olympic USA Games in Orlando, are missing.
They were competing in the soccer competition. The group was last seen Monday afternoon, which was when the games began.
Now, law enforcement is trying to figure out where they went.
"How you fly into a country and just disappear, and no one knows anything? I mean that's disturbing," said Hope Watson, a mother of a Special Olympics athlete.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office put out an alert to the public saying the six men were last seen around 2:30 p.m. at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
All of them turned in their room keys and left their personal belongings behind.
The big questions now are why did they leave and where did they go?
"Maybe they went to see family. Maybe it's something different, and they really aren't missing," said Watson.
Watson is here from Texas, supporting her child in the swim competition.
When she learned the six were missing, she was instantly overcome by shock.
"I'm numb. I can't even, I don't even have the words. It's heavy," she said.
Special Olympics said in a statement that "five of the men are not participating athletes and one has an intellectual disability."
They go on to say, "The wellbeing of these delegates is our foremost concern," but adding "authorities say there's no reason to believe the health and safety of any of the adults is at risk."
"My hopes is that they're safe and that there's nothing wrong with them and it's just a misunderstanding," said Watson.
The sheriff's office says they believe this is an isolated incident, but they're urging anyone with information to come forward.