Britney Gengel

The heartbroken parents of Britney Gengel, the 19-year-old Rutland girl missing since an earthquake struck Haiti last month, hugged each other and sobbed yesterday as they announced her body is finally coming home.

“Our hearts are breaking as our souls are full of joy that our beautiful Britney is on her way home,” a sobbing Leonard Gengel read from a prepared statement he and his wife struggled through tears to read aloud.

Gengel, who got the word his daughter was found yesterday, cried as he called Britney his “valentine.”

An aspiring journalist, Britney Gengel was in Port-au-Prince on a three-week humanitarian mission she told her mother would change her life. “We never knew that this trip would change our lives and hersforever,” a tearful Cherylann read.

The Gengels learned yesterday morning that their daughter’s body was found in the rubble of the Hotel Montana, which was leveled by the 7.0 earthquake. “Our worst fear was that she would be in Haiti forever,” Cherylann Gengel told reporters after reading her prepared remarks. “We’re glad to have her here with us.”

The Gengels, surrounded by family and friends and accompanied by Britney’s bulldog, Bruno, spoke to reporters from a porch lit by the Christmas lights Britney loved. Beside them was an enlarged picture of a happy, smiling Britney at a Haitian orphanage just hours before the quake.

Britney Gengel’s body arrived yesterday at a Dover, Del., military mortuary, her father said. A funeral is planned for Saturday. Britney’s body was the last of the six missing students and two professors from Florida’s Lynn University to be recovered, according to spokeswoman Laura Vann.

Yesterday, the Gengels struggled to find a way to thank the tiny Rutland community that supported them through their ordeal, and the politicians and rescue workers who helped find their daughter. “Thank you doesn’t seem like it’s enough,” Cherylann said. “It’s been a comfort for us through this horrible ordeal.”

By Edward Mason

Stephanie Crispinelli

A third Lynn University student and a professor have been identified and found dead in Haiti. Lynn University officials said Friday that 19-year-old Stephanie Crispinelli and 53-year-old Professor Patrick Hartwick have been officially declared dead. Their bodies were found at the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince.

The U.S. State Department has notified their families. Crispinelli was a sophomore from Katonah, N.Y. Hartwick was dean of the university’s college of education. According to the university, 14 people from the school were in Haiti on a trip to provide food for the poor when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck. One student and one faculty member remain unaccounted for.

Patrick Hartwick

Christine Gianacaci, 22, a sophomore from Hopewell, N.J., was confirmed dead, and the U.S. State Department has notified her family, according to a statement from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Christine was the second body to be identified from the Hotel Montana in Haiti, following the earthquake which took place on January 12, 2010.

Yesterday, Courtney Hayes was identified and her parents were notified of their loss. The families of the missing who were on a Journey of Hope charity mission to Haiti, have sent dental records to assist the Haiti government, in identifying their loved ones. DNA was also used to entail a positive result.

With over 4,000 Americans still missing in Haiti, following the unimaginable earthquake which took so many lives, the goverment states that they are doing all they can to help bring the deceased home to their families. We pray this is true. As we send our condolences to the Gianacaci family, as well as the Hayes family, we pray that the rest of the missing from the University will also be found. Let these families have the peace and serenity they so deserve, after suffering the untimely deaths of their children. May we share with them in their sorrow.Godspeed……

Britney Gengel

Christine Gianacaci

Courtney-Hayes

Stephanie Crispinelli

Lynn University President Kevin A. Ross said the search for “Journey of Hope” students and faculty will continue.  So far 8 students who escaped the Hotel Montana in Petion Ville, Haiti after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake,  have returned to the United States. 6 more remain missing including two professors.  The missing students & staff who were staying at the now destroyed Hotel Montana have not been heard from since the earthquake on January 12, 2010.  False intelligence have angered the parents of Britney Gengel who swiftly flew to South Florida to meet with their daughter after they were told that she was found.  The parents remain banded together and hopeful that their children are alive and well.

Patrick Hartwick

Richard Bruno