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The abductees, including an Irish missionary who directs care for children with special needs, were taken from an orphanage serving about 270 children.
Aug. 4, 2025, 5:21 p.m. ET
A 3-year-old child and seven staff members at an orphanage in Haiti were kidnapped on Sunday about 25 miles from Port-au-Prince, the capital.
The orphanage is part of the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos network, known as N.P.H., a web of orphanages, hospitals and educational programs for children in Latin America and the Caribbean, founded by a Catholic priest.
The abductees, including a longtime Irish missionary, Gena Heraty, who directs care for children with special needs, were taken from St. Hélène Foyer, the organization’s main Haitian children’s home, in Kenscoff, south of the capital.
Local news media reported that the kidnapping took place in the early hours of Sunday and that Ms. Heraty had been allowed to call and confirm later in the day that she and others had been taken. No ransom demand had reportedly been made at that point.
The orphanage serves about 270 children, including some with disabilities. “This attack has struck at the heart of our mission: to protect children, care for the most vulnerable and serve with dignity, justice and love,” the N.P.H. said in a statement.
N.P.H. is one of the country’s best known and trusted charities. It also runs the only free pediatric hospital in the capital, in territory controlled by a gang coalition that has taken over large parts of Port-au-Prince since launching a coordinated offensive against the government in March last year.
