Haitian family killed at sea buried in unmarked graves
It’s a heartbreaking story that shocked the country almost 45 years ago. A Haitian mother and her five kids seeking the American dream forced by smugglers at gunpoint and thrown overboard into the water less than a mile offshore near Palm Beach. They all tragically drowned.
The mother and her five kids that drowned were laid to rest in South Florida, but there’s nothing but grass as a reminder to the surviving relatives still looking for closure. A good Samaritan is hoping to change that with help from the community.
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“I was not there to help them, I was not there to help them,” said a tearful Augustin Lorfils who is now 53-years-old. For him, the tragedy seems like yesterday, but he was only a child living in South Florida with his sister and father in 1979 when he learned the fates of his mother Elaine and five siblings.
Lorfils says, “I was home Saturday morning watching cartoons, me and my cousin. And they had breaking news that this lady died with kids and I told my cousin, hey, I think that’s my mom.”
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Lorfils speech is slower and he needs help walking after a stroke and recently was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. But the pain he carries emotionally is still very deep. With a little help he showed NBC 6 Anchor Jawan Strader the final resting place of his mother and siblings, buried at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Doral.
But there’s nothing but grass, no markers, no signs of his loved one murdered at sea. His brothers and sisters just four to eleven years-old when smugglers his family paid to get them from Haiti to South Florida, forced them all from the boat to their deaths.
The tragedy making national headlines, devastating the Lorfils surviving family members especially Augustin, his sister and father Dumercy who had come to South Florida two years before. Lorfils said, “When my mom died, he died. He was an alcoholic. Just realizing now, how rough he had it.”
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His father also buried in the cemetery, died of a broken heart. All of the plots were donated by Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery, but without gravestones or markers. It’s as if they never existed. “I see my parents, but nothing, you know. It’s empty,” said Lorfils.
Benard Poitier Jr. who learned of the tragic story from his father, the former owner of Poitier Funeral Home. It was the elder Poitier’s dying wish to give the Lorfils family the closure it needs. “My father, said promise me that you will do this. So, I’m saying what? So, he said, that the family needs headstones,” said Poitier.
After meeting Lorfils, Poitier made it his mission to get seven headstones, but it hasn’t been easy. His father’s funeral home is gone and Poitier is struggling to raise money needed to help the Lorfils family, but he’s determined to do it. “I’m still not satisfied until the headstones are in place,” said Poitier.
The headstones would give the Lorfils family meaning. I want people to know that they were here, they were alive. They were people to,” said Lorfils. And he is extremely grateful for what Poitier is doing for his family. He said, “It’s very special, because I don’t think I can do it by myself. He really helped me out.” Lorfils went on to say that “As a parent you do so much for your kids. Like my mom and dad, all they did for me.”
If you would like to help the Lorfils family, there’s a Gofundme set up. You can click on the link to donate https://www.gofundme.com/f/murdered-during-migration.
