A Florida couple visiting Haiti was kidnapped nearly an hour after landing as their captors demand $200,000 for their safe return. Abigail and Jean-Dickens Toussaint, both 33, were taken on March 18 by a local gang who stopped their Port-au-Prince bus and demanded all Americans get off, according to their family. The couple's grieving family warned them to stay away from the country that is overrun with political unrest and gangs. 'We were very worried when they said they were going, we told them not to go but they wanted to go,' relative Nikese Toussaint, told ABC7. A family-friend traveling with them from the airport to the nearby city of Leogan was also taken. The day the couple went missing, they sent a message to their family telling them they landed safely around 8.55am local time, according to ABC7. They never sent another update. The couple's kidnappers initially asked the family for $6,000 for their return before increasing the amount to $200,000. 'We don't have that type of money,' Christie Desormes, their niece, told WPLG. It's unclear how the kidnappers communicated with the family. The couple shares a one-year-old son, who stayed behind in the US with family. He is currently staying with his family. The Toussaints might miss their son's second birthday on March 28 if they are not released. 'It’s a lot of emotions, it’s devastating, you feel angry it happened and then you feel numb at the same time because it doesn’t feel real,' Desormes told NBC. Desormes started a Change.org petition to get the attention of politicians who can help bring her aunt and uncle home. 'They are U.S. citizens. They are parents. They are siblings. They are my family. They are loved and most of all they are people who desperately need your help,' Desormes wrote. As of Sunday, nearly 4,500 signatures were garnered. #AbigailandJeanDickensToussaint #AbigailToussaint #JeanDickensToussaint https://www.instagram.com/p/CqSw0irrI3v/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=