Six adult men, members of Haitian Special Olympics group, missing since Monday

Six adult members of the Haitian delegation participating in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games remain missing, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said.

It announced on its Facebook page that it was “actively investigating a missing person’s case involving members of the Haitian delegation participating in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.” It is also communicating with Walt Disney World, Special Olympics, and other law enforcement and federal partners, it said.

It added that it believed the fact that they were missing was an isolated event and didn’t suspect foul play.

Anyone with information about the missing members are to contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, it said.

The sheriff’s office also published a bulletin with photos and information about each of the Haitian men: Atione Joseph Mithon, 32; Nicholson Fontilus, 20; Peter Mianovich Berlus, 19; Anderson Petit-Frere, 18; Steevenson Jacquet, 24 and Oriol Jean, 18.

Five of the men weren’t Special Olympics athletes; one has an intellectual disability, according to a statement the Special Olympics USA Games released to media outlets.

The men had all turned in their room keys and left their personal bags and belongings in their hotel room, the sheriff’s office said. They were last seen around 2:30 pm on Monday at 710 S. Victory Way in Kissimmee, south of Orlando.

This is the second time in less than a week that the Special Olympics has run into trouble in Florida.

Last week, Special Olympics International announced it would comply with state law, which prohibits companies, including nonprofits, from requiring COVID-19 vaccines mandates as a condition of service.

SOI had been fighting the Florida Health Department and state surgeon general for six months over alleged noncompliance with the law. The SOI had required 5,500 athletes to provide documentation that they had received COVID-19 vaccines in compliance with its vaccine mandate in order to be able to participate. Only after Florida fined SOI $27.5 million for violating state law, and only three days before the games began, did it announce a change in policy and drop its vaccine mandate.

“Special Olympics International should have never imposed a vaccine mandate on their athletes,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Special Olympians who were in limbo for months” were able to participate starting Sunday, he said, “thanks to our continued actions to keep Floridians’ medical decisions private.”

Now questions are arising about Special Olympics’ vetting process. Some have speculated the missing men may have used the Olympics as a false pretense to enter the U.S.

CBS 47 News, Fox40 points out that from 2020 to 2021, “the number of Haitians caught trying to get to the U.S. illegally by boat has tripled.”

The news comes after more than 15,000 Haitians initially descended on the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, last year. After entering the U.S. illegally, many who’d been working and living in Chile and other countries and were believed to not qualify for asylum, were released into the U.S. by the Biden administration instead of being deported.

“Illegal migration of Haitians has exponentially increased across the board, whether it’s by water or by the southwest border under the Biden administration,” Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told The Center Square.