Mom sues American Airlines, saying it 'misplaced' her kids and put them in a cell-like room overnight without food or water

07.11.2023 - 07:19 / insider.com

A Florida mom has alleged in a lawsuit against American Airlines that the air carrier "misplaced" her two kids by putting them in a cold, jail-cell-like room overnight without food, water, blankets, or pillows after their flight got canceled while they were traveling alone.

Amber Vencill's two boys, ages 10 and 12, are now scared to fly and worry that they would be "lost or abandoned" as a result of "negligence" by the airline, according to the newly filed civil lawsuit and the mother's attorney, David Jaroslawicz.

American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit by Insider on Monday.

The kids, only identified as J.V. and R.V., were traveling using the airline's unaccompanied minor service from Missouri to Syracuse, New York, with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 30, 2022.

But their connecting flight was delayed several times before it was ultimately canceled, the suit — filed in New York last week and obtained by Insider — alleges.

The airline called Vencill's partner — who was listed as the pick-up person in Syracuse, where the kids were headed to visit his family — and told him that the children would be on a flight there the next day at 9 a.m., according to the lawsuit.

Vencill's partner, identified only as Ted, was told that the boys would be in a "nice room for unaccompanied minors where there were beds and their own bathroom," the lawsuit states.

However, in the interim, the airline emailed Vencill on July 30 at around 11:40 p.m., saying her kids would be on a flight just after 5 p.m. on July 31, the lawsuit alleges, adding that the mother "had no idea what flight her children would be on" because of the conflicting information.

Vencill tried to get in touch with the airline, but couldn't get through on the phone number it provided, according to the lawsuit. Finally, the lawsuit says, a "kind" employee at Charlotte Douglas International Airport put the worried mom in touch with one of her kids.

One of the sons told Vencill that they "had not had anything to eat or drink since the night before, not even a pretzel or snacks that are usually given out by the airline," according to the suit.

The airport employee, the lawsuit alleges, wound up giving the children some food and drinks.

The lawsuit alleges that the kids were placed in a "freezing" apparent "lost children's room" at the airport that was "akin to a jail cell" and spent the night on a sofa with the lights on before they boarded the flight the next day to Syracuse.

"The worst part was they were in an airport, they could have been taken anywhere," Jaroslawicz, Vencill's attorney, told Insider. "They were in an airport with all sorts of nuts around."

When Vencill later contacted American