Inside the US effort to bring home two young American missionaries killed in Haiti

The first US commercial flight to Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in months made a bleak roundtrip on Thursday morning, returning with the bodies of a young American couple who were killed by a gang last week.

The remains of Davy and Natalie Lloyd were accompanied in an American Airlines jet by US Ambassador to Haiti Dennis Hankins and US security agents, according to a source with knowledge of the operation. After flying from Haiti to Miami, they will be sent onward to their families.

“This morning, the remains of Davy and Natalie Lloyd safely took off on a flight back to the United States — there will be a series of layovers, and they will safely reach Neosho, Missouri tomorrow afternoon,” read a statement posted by their families on the X account of Natalie’s father, Missouri State Rep. Ben Baker, requesting privacy during the transfer.