Yeah, this sounds like he was being sent back to a program. No money or cell phone. http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/294777 ... wrong-stopMissing Phoenix teenager flying Southwest fails to get off plane, gets off at wrong stopBy Kathleen Berger
St. Louis (KSDK) - A Phoenix teenager got lost after arriving in St. Louis by plane when he was supposed to be in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The15-year-old boy was flying alone on Southwest Airlines from Phoenix to Tulsa, but somehow ended up lost in Florissant, Missouri.
Erik McBee is home now in Arizona, but last Wednesday he said he fell asleep on the plane, missing his stop in Tulsa.
He said he woke up confused,without money and a cell phone, and apparently without the insight to ask Southwest Airlines employees for help."I go to sleep. Just put my headphones in and fall asleep," said Erik.
Typical for many airline passengers, except McBee said he didn't wake up when his plane got to his destination.
Instead, he said he slept through the 40 minute layover, slept through the Southwest flight's take-off for Lambert Airport, and its landing. He got off the plane in St. Louis, and walked off. Somewhere in the terminal, Erik said he asked airport police for help.
"I saw one of the security guys, so I talked to him and told him my situation, and he said he couldn't do anything," said Erik.
So Erik left the airport on foot, walking aimlessly in the direction of Florissant. Because he didn't have a cell phone or money, Erik said he just walked off. All the while, his family was panicked because he never arrived in Tulsa.
His mother, Keena McBee, said, "Nobody could give me an answer. I called Southwest Airlines, they said I had to talk to customer relations the next morning."
Missing now for almost a full day, December 28th through the 29th, all Southwest Airlines could tell the family is what they told KSDK: the head count from Tulsa to St. Louis was accurate, so they had no indication that Erik was on the flight.
So the morning of the 29th, the family called Lambert Airport. And sure enough, Erik was seen leaving the airport on airport surveillance.
"He left security and left the building, and there's no information he sought any assistance after he got off that flight," said Lambert International Airport Spokesperson Jeff Lea.
Missing for more than 24 hours, Lambert got a call from the Florissant Police Department. Police say a couple of women found him in Florissant. They took him to the police station where police called his family.
"Florissant P.D. and Airport P.D. came in contact at that time, made arrangements to bring the young man back to airport," said Lea.
Upon further investigation, the airport said none of their officers recall a teenager asking for help.
Southwest said none of their employees were approached by Erik.
About that accurate head count: a Southwest spokesperson said it's possible someone got off the plane and re-boarded after the count.
Because Erik is 15, Southwest does not have a service available for flight attendants to watch over him. That's only for children ages 5 to 12.
KSDK