HOLMES COUNTY, Ohio — Today marks one month since 17 missionaries were kidnapped in Haiti, and both the aid organization they were working with, and state lawmakers are pushing to have them brought home.
That Holmes County organization told us the 16 Americans and one Canadian were kidnapped Oct. 16 after building an orphanage. It's asking for prayers as it continues to work with government authorities to bring every one of those people back home.
In Columbus, a state lawmaker's working on turning up the pressure on that front. State rep Reggie Stoltzfus introduced a resolution calling for the president and congress to take hasty action to bring those missionaries home safely.
“You know, it's been 31, 32 days since they've been captured, and that's just too long. We've got to act, we've got to do something, we've got to bring these folks home,” Stoltzfus said.
Last month, Christian Aid Ministries told us there were five children among the group, including an infant, and Stoltzfus says as of today, there's no way of knowing if they're all ok
“We don't know, if you know, they're being fed every day. We don't know if they have shelter, we don't know if they're all alive. I can't imagine being one of these hostages. I can't imagine being a family member back here in the states wondering about their loved one,” Stoltzfus said.
That resolution has its first hearing in the state and local government committee tomorrow. Stoltzfus says he expects it to move forward with bipartisan support.
RELATED: 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti were there with Christian Aid Ministries out of Holmes County
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