A faith-based non-profit in Haiti, where an American nurse was working when she and her young daughter were kidnapped by armed men last week, released a new statement asking the public for prayers as the fates of the two victims remain unknown.
El Roi Haiti wrote in a post on its website Monday that "our hearts break" for Alix Dorsainvil, originally from New Hampshire, and her daughter, who were taken from the organization’s campus in Port au Prince on Thursday.
"We continue to work diligently with authorities and partners in the United States and Haiti to secure their freedom," the Christian and humanitarian aid group said. "Many people are laboring for their return, but currently we cannot share more specific details."
"Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter," the statement continued. "As our hearts break for this situation, we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily."
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Around 200 Haitians marched in their nation's capital Monday to show their anger over the abduction, another example of the worsening gang violence that has overtaken much of Port-au-Prince.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that Dorsainvil was working in the small brick clinic when armed men burst in and seized her. Some members of the community said the unidentified men asked for $1 million in ransom, a standard practice of the gangs wreaking terror in impoverished Haiti.
The U.S. State Department on Monday addressed the reports of two American citizens being kidnapped in Haiti, though spokesman Matthew Miller would not say if the abductors had made demands.
"Obviously, the safety and security of American citizens overseas is our highest priority," Miller wrote in a statement. "We are in regular contact with the Haitian authorities. We’ll continue to work with them and our US government interagency partners, but because it’s an ongoing law enforcement investigation, there’s not more detail I can offer."
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The non-profit in its latest post shared more details about Dorsainvil, who is married to the program’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil.
Dorsainvil had been working at the organization as a school nurse since 2020 before marrying Sandro in 2021. She first visited Haiti following the 2010 earthquake while still in college and "fell in love with the people," the group said. She made multiple visits in the ensuing years before moving permanently.
El Roi said the nurse has had "a heart for the hurting since she was a child."
"She seeks people out to show them love and compassion, and no one is excluded from receiving her kindness," the post read.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
