2025News

DR assists in helping US missionaries leave Haiti

It’s hard to understand what an American family was still doing in Haiti. What is known now is that one US family from Texas that traveled there for missionary work had been trying for three years to leave.

Their story ended well and they were rescued by Project Dynamo and brought to the Dominican Republic on Monday, 27 January to be later flown to the United States, as reported in Diario Libre. Project Dyamo has carried out numerous rescue operations from Haiti in the past, too.

Project Dynamo revealed in a press release that after weeks of meticulous planning, a team of US military veterans from Project Dynamo successfully conducted a high-risk rescue operation of an American family from Haiti on Monday, 27 January 2025.

The mission, known as Operation Yellowtail, faced extreme danger due to escalating violence among rival gangs in Haiti.

The mission’s objective was to medically evacuate a Christian missionary Zachary Ennis and his family, including their five-month daughter, who has had health complications since birth.

The press release explained that trapped within the mission compound amidst ongoing gang violence, the Texas family had been unable to escape. Just days before the operation, a local gang decapitated a man and left his head outside the compound, which is located in the Haitian commune of Saint-Marc and has been a target of the gangs due to its high walls and strategic location.

The Project Dynamo operation commenced from Miami, Florida at 4:30am and involved three aircraft, including a private plane and helicopter, as well as cooperation with two additional nations and support from the government of the Dominican Republic.

The family was first evacuated by helicopter from Saint-Marc, Haiti and transferred to a private plane, which was standing-by in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. After a brief stop in an unnamed third nation, the Project DYNAMO team, and the family they rescued, safely landed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, late on Monday night.

“We are extremely grateful to the government of the Dominican Republic and the National Intelligence Agency (DNI) for their support with this mission. Additionally, we want to sincerely thank US Senator Ted Cruz for his ongoing support throughout this process. Without the help of him and his office, this mission would not have been possible,” said Mario Duarte, CEO of Project Dynamo. “The bottom line is this: when and where no one else will go, if Americans are in harm’s way, Project Dynamo continues to demonstrate, we will respond.”

As reported, on Tuesday, 28 January, the team from Project Dynamo was escorting the family through a series of medical evaluations before meeting with the US Embassy in Santo Domingo. Once the medical evaluations and paperwork with the US State Department are finalized, Project Dynamo has plans to escort the family back to Miami, Florida and then to Texas.

Project Dynamo explains that the mission began after they received a plea from a concerned family member, Dianne Ennis, from Conroe, Texas. She requested help to evacuate her 24-year-old son Zachary, 26-year-old daughter-in-law Mica, and five-month old granddaughter Niah. The Ennises say they’ve been trying to get out of Haiti for three years.

Founded during the US pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, Project Dynamo is a US non-profit specialized in international search, rescue and aid, headquartered in Florida with worldwide operations. Project Dynamo says they operate where the United States government cannot, or does not. The primary objective of the non-profit is to assist those impacted in disaster areas and conflict zones throughout the world. Project Dynamo conducted the first air-rescue missions from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control and has negotiated the release and exfiltrated numerous Americans from captivity and false imprisonment.

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Diario Libre
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NBC Miami

29 January 2025