Workers save woman from human traffickers at Alabama airport, feds say
Four Alabama airport employees are being recognized by the Department of Homeland Security for saving a young woman unknowingly bound for a trap set by human traffickers.
The 21-year-old woman was dropped off at Huntsville International Airport by her mother, neither of them aware that a modeling job promised in Phoenix, Arizona, was a lie, airport officials told WAFF.
By chance, the airport’s public relations and customer service manager Jana Kuner ran into the mother in the parking lot, struggling to remember where she had parked, according to the TV station. Kuner helped her track down her car, and, talking as they went, she told Kuner about her daughter’s exciting opportunity, how she was about to board a plane to a modeling job with a ticket she didn’t even have to buy herself, WAFF reported.
The details didn’t sit well with Kuner, who quickly suspected something was amiss. She roped in a public safety officer and went looking for the daughter, to warn her. When she did, the young woman wasn’t convinced, according to WAFF.
She wouldn’t agree to stay, so Kuner arranged a public safety escort at the woman’s Arizona destination, according to the Huntsville Business Journal.
The 21-year-old’s phone was blowing up with messages, asking where she was, if there was anyone with her. Kuner borrowed the phone, wanting to talk to someone involved with the supposed modeling agency. The voice on the other end, a woman, was convincing, Kuner told the Huntsville Business Journal, but not enough to put her suspicions to bed.
Kuner returned to her office but minutes later she got a call. The young woman had been waiting for takeoff when she got a text from her contact — their meeting was off, suddenly canceled — no need for her to fly over, according to the Huntsville Business Journal.
Rick Tucker, Huntsville International CEO, credited the rescue to quick thinking and employee training, which uses the DHS “See Something Say Something” campaign.
“In this instance we had several employees that took that training to heart, noticed some irregularities and ultimately saved the life of a passenger that was confirmed to have been targeted for human trafficking. We will continue this training with our employees because our passengers are our priority at Huntsville International Airport,” Tucker said, in a statement from the airport.
Employees recognized by DHS are Jana Kuner, Chris Scott, Huntsville International’s Chief of Public Safety, Public Safety Lt. Heath Murphy, and Delta Airlines station manager Randy Tiemann, according to the statement.