Adopted girl from Haiti finally arrives in Utah

The Associated Press via The Daily Herald

SALT LAKE CITY -- After years of waiting -- and a devastating delay from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake -- a Utah couple finally has an adopted daughter from Haiti.

Jeremy and Hollie Wardle of Bountiful met up with 7-year-old Gabrielle on Saturday at the airport in Salt Lake City.

The couple had been working for years to adopt her but, just days before she was scheduled to leave Haiti, the Jan. 12 earthquake hit, bringing the process to a halt.

She was one of dozens of Haitian orphans airlifted to Florida last week by a private group headed by St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson. All of the children were previously matched with adoptive parents in the U.S.

Shortly after the quake hit, Jeremy Wardle struck out to find Gabrielle and check to see that her orphanage was getting food and water. He flew into the Dominican Republic and then trekked overland to Haiti.

"I said come hell or high water, I'm going to get her out of there," he said Saturday night.
To help, he hooked up with Johnson's group.

Gabrielle arrived at the Salt Lake City airport to cheers and a few dozen new family and friends.
"We're so happy," Hollie Wardle said. "We've seen miracle after miracle."

Boyd Livingston, who is helping coordinate the operation from St. George, said he's pleased with the results so far, including the 101 flown out of the country to Florida.

"Everything is going very well," Livingston said. "This little group from St. George, we have very little money, but we have saved (101) souls."

Meanwhile, officials say other Haitian orphans bound for Utah are still awaiting transportation.

Chareyl Moyes, of Ogden-based Wasatch International Adoptions, on Saturday was working through Haitian and U.S. authorities to get emigration papers for 60 orphans, including some with adoptive parents in Utah and Idaho.

There was a tentative plan with the Church of Scientology to fly the Ogden group to the United States but it fell through, said Lori Rosenlof of Lehi. She and husband Brent Rosenlof have adopted two of the children.

Brent Rosenlof went to Haiti last week to help with adoption procedures that were already in the works before the earthquake. Lines have been long for those at the U.S. Embassy trying to get exit papers for all 60 children, according to Lori Rosenlof. They're hoping to be cleared for emigration in the coming days.