With few details available about the reported kidnapping of a New Hampshire woman and her young daughter in Haiti, the U.S. State Department says it is aware of the reports surrounding an apparent abduction.
Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for the nonprofit El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped from the organization’s campus in Port au Prince on Thursday, the nonprofit said in a statement Saturday. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil.
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement given to Fox News on Monday that it is “aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti.”
“We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners,” the statement said, adding that it has “no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas.”
El Roi is a faith-based organization that runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince.
In a video posted on the organization’s website, Dorsainvil says that she came to the school after her husband requested her skills as a nurse to help students.
“Haitians are such a resilient people,” Dorsainvil said in video. “They’re full of joy and life and love, and I’m so blessed to be able to know so many amazing Haitians.”
Dorsainvil is from Middleton, New Hampshire, and went to Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, which has a program to support nursing education in Haiti, WMUR-TV reported.
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El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown released a statement describing Dorsainvil as “a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family.”
“Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus,” the statement said.
The State Department had ordered non-emergency staff at its embassy in Port-au-Prince to leave Haiti with their eligible family members on Thursday after recent armed clashes between criminal groups and police in the country’s capital.
The advisory noted that kidnapping is “widespread,” with victims “regularly including U.S. citizens,” and cases often involve ransom negotiations with family members and loved ones.
Fox News’ Molly Line and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
