Danny Pye, a Christian missionary to Haiti, was freed March 15 after being jailed without charge for 5 months.
“Around 6 pm he walked out of the jail,” said Annmaria Runion, Pye’s mother-in-law. Danny’s wife, Leann, is due with their second child March 27. She has been staying with her mother in Florida since January.
Runion said Pye is “in the air right now,” en route to Florida. His family, including his wife and 4-year-old daughter Riann, are eager to see him, Runion said.
He’s scheduled to land in Fort Lauderdale between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday evening, said Martha Detalma, a family friend.
“Our prayers, tears, and words have been heard and responded with a YES!!” Leann Pye posted on her blog Wednesday. “Danny is free and is out of Jacmel spending some time with the kids. We will be unavailable until next week. Thank you all for your support and prayers. God is good!”
After his release, Pye briefly spoke to the Associated Press, and said he plans to return to Haiti “soon” to continue his work at a Jacmel orphanage. “It’s been an experience I’ll never forget,” he told the AP. “It’s a little surreal. … I sometimes wonder if it was all a dream.”
Haitian authorities agreed to release Pye without citing a reason or commenting, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, which said it had been working on Pye’s behalf for the past week. “The fact that he was detained and held for months in jail with no charges of any kind is very troubling and points to the fact that the judicial system in Haiti is badly in need of reform,” said the ACLJ’s Jay Sekulow.
