By HAROLD ISAAC Associated Press, and staff
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A Holmes County church organization says two of 17 members of a missionary group have been freed in Haiti more than a month after being kidnapped.
Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries issued a statement Sunday saying the two “are safe, in good spirits and being cared for.”
It said it could not give the names of those released, why they were freed or other information.
“Today’s release of two hostages is a step in the right direction, but we must not rest until everyone in custody is released,” said Republican Ohio senator Rob Portman, whose measure calling for “an assessment of U.S. interagency efforts to counter kidnapping and armed violence in Haiti” was unanimously accepted as an amendment to a Haiti bill in the Senate last month.
The group from Christian Aid Ministries were kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang on Oct. 16.
There are five children in the group of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian.
Their Haitian driver also was abducted.