AMARILLO, Texas (AP) _ The lone Texan among eight U.S. missionaries freed from earthquake-devastated Haiti in a child abduction investigation has been welcomed home by members of his Amarillo church and others.
Jim Allen was greeted with cheers and applause as he walked into a room inside the Texas Panhandle city’s civic center Thursday, a day after stepping back onto American soil in Florida.
With about 20 family members behind him, the 47-year-old told the crowd he was glad to be back home. In his words, “I want to thank a lot of people. I want to thank my God.”
Two of the 10 missionaries caught Jan. 29 trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without adoption certificates remain jailed there. The arrests came as aid officials urged a halt to short-cut adoptions in the wake of the earthquake.