Escalating violence and turmoil in Haiti kept a Plano family apart for more than a year. NBC 5’s Katy Blakey reports on the harrowing and emotional operation to bring a little girl home.
Violence and turmoil in Haiti kept a Plano family apart until the harrowing and emotional journey to bring a little girl home ended safely.
After more than 18 months and 1,800 miles, Love Esther is finally in the arms of her parents.
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WATCH HEREAdopted in 2023 by Jordan and Kathleen Smith, of Plano, plans to bring the 7-year-old girl to Texas came to a halt when violence escalated in Haiti.
The country is in crisis as gangs have taken over.
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SIGN UP “In January, our orphanage was in the area where the gangs were attacking, so they took the kids, split them in two and put them in a safe house and they didn’t even tell us the address,” said mother Kathleen Smith.
The family sought help from Grey Bull Rescue. Their nonprofit arm saves Americans and allies from conflict and disaster zones.
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“We do what we need to do to bring the kids home,” said Grey Bull Rescue Founder Bryan Stern.
After coordinating the logistical challenges and the administrative side, their team flew from Tampa, Florida, on Monday to northern Haiti before taking a helicopter to Port-au-Prince.
On the ground, they navigated a volatile situation to reach Love Esther and two sisters adopted by a North Dakota family.
“We had to pull out to the north and east because fighting had erupted just down the street from us. We haven’t had an operation in Haiti where we haven’t heard gunfire,” Stern said.
“They started off the morning in the care of the orphanage and then our people moved them into our care and we moved them around the battle space a little bit,” Stern said. “Think of it like a mousetrap, and at the end of that mousetrap is Tampa.”
The families listened anxiously to radio traffic back in Florida, but true relief did not come until the girls were in their arms.
“We’re still processing. It’s hard to go from waiting so long to 'Boom! We’re done and we’ve got her and we’re all together,'” said father Jordan Smith.
The Smiths are eager to get Love Esther home to her three siblings in Plano and begin their new journey as a family of six.
“She’s hilarious and I think she’s going to fit in perfectly and it’s just going to be a summer getting to know each other,” Kathleen Smith said.
The family is grateful to all who stepped up to save their little girl.
“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing,” she said.
The Smiths said they worked with Texas lawmakers Rep. August Pfluger and Rep. Keith Self to help bring their daughter home.
