A Florida couple whose family said they were kidnapped and held for ransom in Haiti has been released, relatives said.
Jean-Dickens Toussaint and his wife, Abigail Michael Toussaint, were released Thursday, nearly a month after they were kidnapped, family members told NBC Miami. The Toussaints hope to arrive back in Tamarac, a city in Broward County, by Saturday, according to the news station.
The couple was in Haiti last month to visit sick relatives and was traveling to Leogan, about 27 miles west of Port-au-Prince, but never made it, the family previously told NBC Miami. They disappeared on March 18.
Christie Desormes, their niece, told the station that a group ordered her aunt and uncle off a bus and held them captive. The family said that they paid more than $2,000 of a $6,000 ransom but the kidnappers changed the deal.
Nikese Toussaint, Jean-Dickens' sister, told the news station that the kidnappers demanded $200,000 each for their release.
Further details about the release were not available. Desormes and other family members could not immediately be reached on Friday.
The State Department said last month that it was aware of reports that the couple was missing, but did not provide any details. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.