8 American missionaries arrested in Haiti land in Miami hours after judge frees them

Missionaries freed by Haitian judge land in US

MIAMI — Eight American missionaries charged with child kidnapping in Haiti are back in the U.S. after spending nearly three weeks in a Haitian jail.

They arrived at Miami International Airport early Thursday aboard a military cargo plane, about 12 hours after a judge approved their release. They declined to answer reporters’ questions as they briskly walked into a nearby hotel.

Two other missionaries are still jailed in Haiti in an ordeal that began when the group tried to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country.

The judge freed the eight missionaries because parents of the children said they voluntarily gave their children to the group believing they would have a better life. But the judge still wants to question the group’s leader and former nanny.