The attentiveness of Alaska Airlines flight attendant Sheila Frederick saved the life of a teenage girl on the same flight.
Suspicious passengers on board
Sheila recounted that the incident happened in 2011. She noticed a girl on board who looked 14 to 15 years old and was poorly dressed, her hair disheveled. Her behavior immediately caught her attention, she was afraid to talk to people, when the flight attendant spoke to her she kept silent and lowered her eyes.She was flying with an older man who forbade her to talk and was also rude to her.
The passenger himself looked presentable, but his behavior toward the teenager was rude, which caught my eye. Any attempts by the stewardess to start a dialogue with the girl were immediately cut off by the man, and the girl herself hid her eyes fearfully.
After waiting for a time when the man was able to distract, Sheila indicated to the child that she should go to the restroom. There, near the mirror, she left her a note on which the girl wrote that she had been kidnapped.
End of story
The flight attendant reported the situation and the passengers on board to the pilot, who immediately reported the abduction to the police. On arrival, the suspicious man was apprehended by police as soon as he stepped off the plane.
Most cases of human trafficking go undetected even today, which is why Airline Ambassadors, an organization that provides regular free training to airline crew to help identify such cases of human trafficking. The girl who was rescued by a flight attendant on that flight is in college, and she regularly calls her rescuer.