The husband of one of the 17 Christian missionaries abducted in Haiti revealed in a footage released on Monday that their abductors kept 12 hostages even though ransom was fully paid for them.
The Christian Post said the gang "refused" to release the remaining twelve despite the ransom being paid. This took place after the gang released the first two missionaries for medical reasons, which was in November.
While MLive explained that the footage they released was taken on Sunday during the prayer vigil and luncheon held by Ray Noecker, who is a missionary himself, to celebrate the safe return of his family. The event was held at West Michigan Research Center.
"There had been a ransom agreement reached with the hostage takers and to my understanding that ransom was actually delivered the Sunday night that my wife and son and the other lady was released. The ransom agreement was for the entire group but there was division within the gang and so they were not able to release all of them at that time," Noecker disclosed.
"So that would be maybe one of the reasons the gang would have told the group that were in captivity that they were being released because of the source, the medical condition of my wife and the other lady," he added.
Asked by someone from the gathering if he knew how much the ransom paid was, Noecker responded with, "I do not know the amount of the ransom that was paid."
Although the ransom asked by the 400 Mawozo Gang for each of the 17 missionaries they abducted on October 16 was reported by media as $1 million, the total amount actually given them for the supposed release of the hostages was never disclosed to the public.
Noecker's wife and son were the two of the three captives announced by Christian Aid Ministries (CAM), the organization the 17 missionaries were part of, to have been released by the 400 Mawozo gang on December 5. CAM did not disclose their identities at that time.
"We are thankful to God that three more hostages were released last night. Those who were released are safe and seem to be in good spirits. As with the previous release, we are not able to provide the names of the people released, the circumstances of the release, or any other details," CAM said on December 6.
The remaining captives Noecker mentioned were reportedly held captive by their Haitian abductors, but eventually made a daring escape on December 16. The Haitian National Police initially reported that the captives were "released" by the 400 Mawozo gang. This was seconded by CAM, which confirmed the remaining hostages were "freed" in a December 16 statement, noting that "a U.S.-flagged plane left Haiti" with them.
Despite what happened, Noecker told WZZM he was willing to let his family return to Haiti to continue with the mission.
"God calls us to minister to the hurting people. So that would be why we went as a family, because there was a need and an opportunity to make a difference in people's lives," Noecker said.
CAM said in their December 20 statement that their staff were very much aware of the danger of going to Haiti but nonetheless went there because it "is usually where the biggest needs are."
"If we'd go only where it is safe, we'd stay put in our own communities," the organization underscored.
