kidnapping

A powerful Haitian gang leader has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with ordering the kidnapping of an American couple, which left a woman dead.

Hundreds of Haitians have marched through the capital, Port-au-Prince, in protest at the reported abduction of an American nurse and her daughter.

The family of a U.S. couple who has been kidnapped in Haiti is pleading for their release. Nikese Toussaint says that gangs kidnapped her brother, his wife and a third person traveling with them on March 18.

Before the pandemic halted travel, some 1.2 million American citizens visited Mexico for health care. The number is rising quickly again, with border restrictions eased.

The State Department said the victims, who were found alive after days in captivity, are back on U.S. soil. Officials said they are in the process of returning the remains of two others to the U.S.

The abduction took place on the streets of Matamoros, Mexico. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of the Americans and the arrests of those involved.

DePape faces a maximum of 50 years in prison if convicted of the crimes against the immediate family of a U.S. official.

President Biden has issued an executive order to try to improve efforts to free American hostages and detainees, senior administration officials told reporters.

The released members of Christian Aid Ministries are safe, the Ohio-based church organization said Sunday, after they were kidnapped by a Haitan gang in October.

Missionary groups like Christian Aid Ministries, hit by a gang abduction in Haiti over the weekend, say they won't be intimidated — but they have little protection.

Kidnappings for ransom have become tragically commonplace in Haiti as violent gangs take control of much of the country. On Saturday, one of those criminal groups abducted 17 foreigners who were in Haiti doing aid work for a Christian missionary organization.

Last week's abduction of a Haitian-American church leader in Haiti is a reminder that the country's kidnapping crisis may be an even bigger threat for visiting expats.