Six Haitian men scheduled to compete in Orlandoโs Special Olympic USA Games are missing, according to CBS News. Law enforcement is searching for them and put out a notice alerting the public of where they were last seen.
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Antione Joseph Mithon, Nicholson Fontilus, Peter Mianovich Berlus, Anderson Petit-Frere, Steevenson Jacquet and Oriol Jean were expected Monday when the event began. The Osceola County Sheriffโs Officer published a notice saying they were last seen at around 2:30 p.m. that day at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Per CBS, all six of them turned in their room keys and left their personal belongings behind. However, there are no current leads as to where they couldโve went.
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โHow you fly into a country and just disappear, and no one knows anything? I mean thatโs disturbing,โ said Hope Watson, a mother of a Special Olympics athlete. โMaybe they went to see family. Maybe itโs something different, and they really arenโt missing.โ
Special Olympics said in a statement that โfive of the men are not participating athletes and one has an intellectual disability.โ
They go on to say, โThe wellbeing of these delegates is our foremost concern,โ but adding โauthorities say thereโs no reason to believe the health and safety of any of the adults is at risk.โ
Orlandoโs community is home to about 40,000 Haitian people, according to Global City Mission Initiative. Following the earthquake in 2010 and the more recent assassination of former Haitian president Jovenel Moรฏse, more Haitians have begun migrating to the US but specifically, Florida.
The idea that the six Olympic competitors could be reconnecting with their community isnโt completely far off. Though, the sheriffโs office says they believe their disappearance is an isolated incident and asks the public for tips.
โWe are in communication with Walt Disney World, Special Olympics and our Law Enforcement and Federal partners. At this time, we believe this is an isolated event and do not suspect foul play. We are asking anyone with information to please contact the Osceola County Sheriffโs Office,โ they said via press release.
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