In the early morning hours of January 27th, an unknown number of Haitians ? possibly as many as 25 ? were dropped off by a vessel in the vicinity of Francis Bay. Three of them approached a nearby park residence occupied by a resource management employee and peered in through her screen. Her dog alerted her to their presence. All three left the area. On the following day, a ranger on patrol came upon a number of people in the woods near a park-maintained and heavily-visited ruin. He approached them, but they fled on foot through dense brush. The ranger found numerous bags, passports, trash and other items in the area. It appears that they had been there for a day or so and were awaiting the right time to travel into the town of Cruz Bay. Due to serious officer safety concerns (a sawed-off shotgun was recently found among the items discarded by other illegal aliens), the ranger returned to his patrol vehicle and requested backup. When the chief ranger arrived, the ranger had a pregnant woman in her 20s in custody. She was taken to park headquarters, then transported to St. Thomas and transferred to Customs and Border Protection agents.
