A 6-year-old boy traveling alone for Christmas was put on the wrong Spirit flight
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A 6-year-old boy who left on a flight for the Christmas holiday to visit his grandmother in southwest Florida instead was put on the wrong plane and ended up 160 miles away in Orlando, Florida.
When the grandmother, Maria Ramos, showed up on Thursday at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers to greet her grandson who was flying for the first time from Philadelphia, she was told he wasn't on the Spirit Airlines flight.
"I ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and I asked her, 'Where's my grandson? He was handed over to you at Philadelphia?' She said, 'No, I had no kids with me,'" Ramos told WINK News.
She then got a call from her grandson from the airport in Orlando, telling her that he had landed.
In a statement, Spirit Airlines said the boy was under the care and supervision of an airlines employee the entire time, even though he was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando. Once the mistake was discovered, the airlines let the family know, the statement said.
"We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation," the statement said. "We apologize to the family for this experience."
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Gypsy Rose Blanchard to be released next week after nearly 8 years behind bars for shocking murder
Blanchard, who was originally set for a 2026 release from prison, will be freed after serving 85% of her sentence as required by state law. She was also given time served for the year she spent in Greene County Jail before she entered her guilty plea.
By the time she was 8 years old, Blanchard was allegedly suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, hearing and vision impairments as well as seizures. She relied on a wheelchair to get from place to place and a feeding tube for nutrition and medicine she didn’t really need.
The deception continued for most of her childhood, with DeeDee collecting thousands in gifts and donations given out of sympathy for Blanchard’s alleged health issues, People reported. They also received a house from Habitat for Humanity, went backstage at Miranda Lambert concerts via the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and enjoyed paid trips to Disney World.
In interviews from behind bars, Blanchard said she became more defiant in her teen years, and eventually joined a dating website, on which she met Nicholas Godejohn. The duo maintained a secret online relationship for more than two years before meeting in person and telling Dee Dee, who rejected the romance.
On June 9, 2015, Blanchard waited until her mother had fallen asleep to invite Godejohn over. She hid in a nearby room and listened as he attacked her.
Days after the slaying, the pair wrote about DeeDee’s death on social media, including one post reading, “That b—h is dead.” Authorities found her body that same day, June 14. She had been stabbed 17 times.
Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder for carrying out the slaying, and received a life sentence.
