One more Baptist missionary released from Haiti jail

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - One of two Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released yesterday, but the U.S. group's leader remained in custody.

Charisa Coulter, 24, was taken from jail to the airport by U.S. Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were accused of trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the earthquake.

Coulter declined to comment as she quickly got into an SUV that took her to the airport.

The leader of the Idaho-based missionary group, Laura Silsby, said she was glad about Coulter's release. "I'm very happy that she left today, and for her freedom, and expect mine to come soon," Silsby, 40, told The Associated Press as she left the courthouse where a judge held a closed hearing yesterday.

Defense lawyer Louis Ricardo Chachoute said Coulter was released because there was no evidence to support the charges of kidnapping and criminal association.

He predicted Silsby would be released soon as well. - AP