Haiti drops kidnapping case against 10 missionaries; lesser charge pends for only one jailed

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A Haitian judge has dropped kidnapping charges against all 10 U.S. missionaries detained for trying to take children out of the country after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

But the only missionary still in jail, group leader Laura Silsby, still faces a charge of organizing the illegal transport of 33 children in the chaos after the disaster. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil did not explain why his decision in a brief interview Monday.