When Denice Miracle witnessed a potentially a life-threatening situation for two teen girls, she refused to stand by and let it happen.
Alone at the Airport
When Denice Miracle, 47, watched as two young girls approached her ticket counter. They were alone, no parents in sight, carrying a few small bags each. At first, Denice thought they were running away from home…
Ticket Issues
Denice scanned their one-way tickets across the country and saw they were flagged for potential credit card fraud. One of the girls was frantically texting on her phone. Denice grew more suspicious…
Taking Action
Denice told the two girls, ages 15 and 17, to hang tight while she figured out what to do next. Denice called the airport police, who soon learned the shocking truth about their tickets…
Intuition
“It just didn’t feel right,” said Denice, who had been a customer service agent for over 28 years. “They were young and by themselves.” Denice also noticed neither of the girls possessed any form of identification…
Gut Feeling
The girls were shocked to learn their tickets were one-way as opposed to roundtrip as if they had no idea what they were getting into…
Building Fear
Denice saw them exchange glances, visibly anxious and fearful…
Bad Signs
The card used to reserve their tickets wasn’t in either of their names, too. Denice had a bad feeling about this…
Gut Feeling
By this point, there were too many glaring red flags…
Contacting the Authorities
Denice then called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Airport Bureau—she needed to see this through, just to be sure the girls were not in any kind of danger.
Asking Questions
Authorities questioned both girls in regards to the nature of their trip…
Caught in a Lie
The girls told deputies they had lied to their parents, telling them they were staying at each others’ houses…
Meeting Online
They lied to their folks so they could head out on their own after meeting a man online…
Faceless Manipulator
The girls said they met a man named “Drey” on Instagram who had given them an agenda…
Airport Plans
They claimed that “Drey” had instructed them to go to the airport…
Quick Cash
Drey allegedly invited the two to New York for the weekend, saying he would pay them each $2,000…
Famous
Drey said they would earn the cash by modeling and performing in music videos, but this was far from the truth…
Disappearing Act
While Denice was on the phone with the sheriff’s department, though, one of the girls got on the phone…
Calling Drey
One of the girls had called Drey to fill him in on what was happening…
Gone Without a Trace
Moments later, deputies attempted to call Drey back, but the calls failed…
MIA
Suddenly, Drey’s Instagram account disappeared into thin air…
Calling Their Parents
Police then contacted the girls’ parents, who learned the terrible truth…
Saved From a Dangerous Fate
The mother of the fifteen-year-old expressed their gratitude to Denice. “Because of you, my daughter is home safe with her family where she is loved and belongs.” Had she not intervened it could have gone south…
Potential Trafficking Victims
The police told the girls’ parents that their daughters were the victims of an attempted human trafficking scheme. Denice had unwittingly rescued them from a life of potential slavery. A similar incident occurred last year, when an Alaska Airlines flight attendant noticed something was off about two particular passengers…
Something Was Wrong
Sheila Frederick, 49, was working on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco when she spotted a girl who looked dazed and disheveled. Sheila knew she couldn’t have been older than 14 or 15…
Her Handler
The girl was sitting with a well-dressed man. Sheila immediately became suspicious of the obvious disparity between their appearances, and tried to approach the two passengers…
Unresponsive
When Sheila attempted to ask the passengers what was going on, the man reportedly became aggressive and defensive. The girl remained silent. That’s when Sheila came up with a plan…
The Note
Sheila left a note for the girl in the airplane toilet. The girl responded with the message: “I need help.” Sheila informed the pilots of the situation…
Taken Into Custody
The man was immediately arrested after the flight landed in San Francisco. When asked about her role in the incident, Sheila said she’s now concerned there have been more incidents of a similar variety that she accidentally overlooked during her ten years as a flight attendant. Despite the intervening of airline staff like Denice and Sheila, others are not so lucky…
A Difficult Reality
According to the International Air Transport Association, nearly 25 million people will become human trafficking victims this year. That’s roughly equal to the combined population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. Over 28,500 victims per day will be transported via commercial flights…
Delivered into Slavery
Airlines and their staff are the last line of defense between people like the two unsuspecting young girls at the airport and modern slavery. Once victims deplane, they disappear for good. However, a new technique is being popularized by women and girls in Europe to send a silent signal to airport security officers…
A Secret Signal
Girls are being advised to hide a spoon in their underwear if they suspect they might be victims of an abductions or are forced to travel against their will, even if they don’t know if or when that could happen. But, why a spoon?
Practical and Comfortable
A spoon was selected as the signal device because it can sit comfortably in underwear and the metal will set off the security alarms at the airport. The hidden spoon technique was invented about six years ago…
Alerting Authorities without Drawing Attention
If a girl is made to walk through an airport security checkpoint, the spoon will trigger the alarm, and she will be separated from her abductor…
Saving Lives
Once she is moved to a private location, she can disclose her situation to security officers. The technique has saved countless girls from becoming sex slaves and child brides. As for Denice Miracle, her last name lives up to her heroism, and her superiors agreed…
Rightful Praise
Aleka Turner, the general manager of American Airlines’ station in Sacramento, said she was proud of Denice and how she put her training into action. “She is a testament to the critical role our frontline team members play each and every day in the operation and the lives of each person they come in contact with.”