OUR/Gardy Mardy

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

The organization Operation Underground Railroad has publicly claimed that the FBI conducted an investigation into the disappearance of Gardy Mardy, a missing child who reportedly held dual U.S./Haitian citizenship: https://ourrescue.org/blog/searching-for-gardy/

Accordingly, I request any and all publicly available case documents, emails, case summaries, executive reports, findings and other documentation from December 1, 2009 to the present day mentioning "Gardy Mardy" or "Guesno Mardy," as well as any documentation of the FBI participating into an investigation of a missing child in Haiti between 2009 and roughly 2015. Additionally, I request any documentation the FBI may hold, including emails, case reports and executive summaries, that document collaboration with state or local authorities in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Anna Merlan

This request was improperly denied because, while I am requesting information a missing third-party individual, I am doing so in the public interest, and disclosure of these records will significantly advance public understanding of a high-profile FBI investigation. Over the past six years, Operation Underground Railroad has repeatedly claimed that both the FBI and Haitian authorities conducted a search for subject Gardy Mardy that was in some way deficient or incomplete. OUR continues to solicit public donations in order to search for the missing child, in part by implying that the FBI's investigation has concluded. Disclosure, to the extent practicable, of these records will shed significant light on a matter of public interest, by helping to demonstrate whether the FBI did investigate this case, whether it's considered to be closed or ongoing, and what, if any, conclusions the investigation reached.