8 American missionaries land in Miami hours after Haitian judge frees them
By Frank Bajak, APThursday, February 18, 2010
Missionaries freed by Haitian judge land in US
MIAMI — Eight American missionaries charged in Haiti with child kidnapping have landed in Miami.
Lt. Kenneth Scholz with the U.S. Southern Command said Thursday that a C-130 cargo plane carrying the Americans landed at Miami International Airport. The group still hadn’t emerged from customs as of early Thursday.
They were allowed to leave by Haitian judge Wednesday, nearly three weeks after they were jailed for trying to take a group of children out of the earthquake-stricken country.
Hours after a judge decided to free 8 of the 10, the group — looking bedraggled and sweat-soaked — walked out of the Haitian jail escorted by US diplomats just after dusk. They waited until they were safely inside a white van before flashing smiles and giving a thumbs up to reporters.
