Calgary photographer and 11 other Canadians held in Dominican Republic told they're heading home
It looks like a Calgary photographer held prisoner in the Dominican Republic for the past eight months is finally headed home.
Brittney Wojcik-Harrison was on a private plane, about to leave the holiday destination when she and the crew were arrested, accused of smuggling drugs.
Twelve Canadians on board have been stuck there ever since.
Wojcik-Harrison was wrapping up a brief vacation this past April when the charter plane she was on was boarded by police.
The crew called the authorities after finding drugs stashed in a cargo hold, but the police blamed them, and their seven passengers.
They spent the next several weeks in jail before being released, but were still forbidden from returning to Canada.
Until now.
Wojcik-Harrison and her family here in Calgary just found out Friday morning that she will be coming home.
“I just burst into tears, I’m so excited to see her. It is a Christmas miracle, honestly,” said Bella Harrison, Wojcik-Harrison’s cousin.
“She was crying, too – she couldn’t believe it. She found out after we found out. She is shocked, too, and is really excited to come home.”
Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic say they've been investigating the case since the arrests this past spring, but are now agreeing to let everyone return home.
The 12 detained Canadians say the conditions they were kept in were deplorable, with crowded cells, cruel guards and often a lack of food.
Their release comes months after the plane’s owner, Pivot Airlines, and the federal government began pressuring for them to be set free.
“They’ve been through an emotional journey, up and down. They’ve had great days and bad days and like anyone, they would often lose hope and got really low. It’s going to be a lifelong ordeal they are dealing with – this is with them for the rest of their lives,” said Pivot Airlines’ Eric Edmondson.
Meanwhile, Wojcik-Harrison’s family says she’ll not only be dealing with the trauma of what happened there, but she’ll also need to rebuild her life here.
“She was starting a new career and had just moved to Vancouver, so she’s lost her career, she’s lost her home, all her belongings are in storage, seven months of wages – she’s pretty much lost everything. She’ll have to come home and start right from the beginning again,” said Karen Harrison, Wojcik-Harrison’s aunt.
“We just can’t wait to hold her. That’s all I can think about.”
The paperwork is being filed and the Canadians abroad have been told they could be in the air early next week.
Pivot Airlines say they think it’ll be closer to two weeks before everyone is back, but that they’ve come close four or five times since the spring to having everyone come back before it’s all fallen apart, so they won’t celebrate until everyone is actually home.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
DEVELOPING Live updates from the Trump hush money trial: Stormy Daniels, bookkeeper testify
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is on the stand a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s hush money case continues in Manhattan. Follow live updates here.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
BREAKING Sheldon Keefe out as head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe. The team made the announcement Thursday after the Original Six franchise lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Boeing 737 catches fire and skids off the runway at a Senegal airport, injuring 10 people
A Boeing 737-300 plane carrying 85 people skidded off a runway at the airport in Dakar, Senegal's capital, injuring 10 people, according to the transport minister, an airline safety group and footage from a passenger that showed the aircraft on fire.
Breast cancer screening should start at age 40, Canadian Cancer Society says
The Canadian Cancer Society says all provinces and territories should lower the starting age for breast cancer screening to 40.
Man accused of killing two children at Quebec daycare to stand trial in April 2025
The man accused of murdering two children and injuring six others after a city bus crashed into a Montreal-area daycare is scheduled to stand trial over five weeks beginning in April 2025.