A couple from Florida who traveled to Haiti to visit sick family members have been kidnapped and are being held for ransom, their family members have claimed.
Abigail and Jean-Dickens Toussaint, both 33, had been traveling to Leogan by bus, around 27 miles from Port-Au-Prince, but never made it to their destination.
Their family last heard from the couple on March 18, and claim the pair were ordered off the bus by a group who have been holding them captive ever since.
The kidnappers had initially asked for $6,000 for the couple's return, but allegedly changed the deal after the family paid more than $2,000 to them, changing the ransom amount to $200,000.
The Toussaints' niece Christie Desormes told NBC Miami: "It’s a lot of emotions. It’s devastating. You kind of feel angry it happened, and then you feel numb at the same time, because it doesn’t feel real."
The family has started a petition and urged people to contact their state representatives to ask for help in bringing the Toussaints home.
The State Department also shared a statement confirming that it was aware of the missing persons reports, saying: "When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can. We have nothing further to share at this time."
The couple's family says they warned them not to visit Haiti due to the political unrest and gangs being active in the area.
The Toussaints chose to travel anyway, but left their two-year-old child in the US with other family members.
Their relative Nikese Toussaint told ABC7: "We were very worried when they said they were going, we told them not to go but they wanted to go."
A family friend who had been traveling with the couple from the airport to Leogan was also taken when the group reportedly stopped the bus and ordered all Americans off it.
The last time the couple contacted loved ones was at around 8:55 AM local time on March 18 to let them know they landed safely, and have not been heard from since. It is not known how the kidnappers communicated with the Toussaints' family.
Desormes told WPLG: "We don't have that type of money," after the ransom was increased from $6,000 to $200,000 by the group.
She added in the petition, which has gained almost 5,000 signatures at the time of writing: "They are U.S. citizens. They are parents. They are siblings. They are my family. They are loved and most of all they are people who desperately need your help."
In 2021, 17 missionaries - 12 adults and five minors - from Ohio's Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) were kidnapped in Haiti, while working at an orphanage near to Port-Au-Prince.
Their capture made national headlines in October 2021 and the group was held hostage until escaping two months later in December.
The missionaries managed to escape by themselves in the dead of night, using the stars to navigate their way to safety.
The group which had abducted them had demanded $1 million in ransom money, however it is not known if anything was paid.
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